While Sarah Watterson was part of the 2016 under 21s side which was crowned national champions, her sister Jess was not part of that squad.

But back together in the sky blue this year, the pair enjoyed an undefeated run with their NSW team-mates which culminated in a 2-0 penalty shootout win over Western Australia in the decider.

“The last time we’d played together was in the New South Wales under 15s. We’ve played together locally since then and for district, but the last time for the state was the under 15s indoor side,” Sarah said.

“It was so much fun, I had missed playing with her, that’s for sure. 

“The girls did have trouble telling us apart – we started doing the same hairstyle to try and trick the girls. Our sticks and shoes were different, everything else was the same.”

As defending champions, the pressure was on NSW to perform at this year’s tournament in Wollongong.

It was a challenge they rose to as they strung together eight consecutive wins in the pool rounds – four more victories than any other side – to qualify for the decider in first.

Their rival was a Western Australia outfit they had already defeated twice, albeit in close 2-1 and 4-3 results.

Though NSW went on to finish with an unblemished record, WA pushed them all the way in Friday’s grand final.

“To go undefeated was so nice, but it was pretty tough in that last game,” 20-year-old Sarah said.

“Western Australia has a really strong indoor community, they had a pretty good side.

“It was very close, we were 1-0 down right until the last two minutes when Kelsey Smith scored off a short corner.”

Smith’s goal locked the match at 1-all and with no more successful strikes forthcoming, a shootout was required to decide the national champion.

Under indoor rules, the shootout saw three attempts per team with players given six seconds to try and beat their rival goalkeeper.

“It was really exciting because Jess scored our first shootout goal and Rachel Divall from Orange got the second, the Central West girls represented,” Sarah said.

“Jess’ goal, she dragged to the left and then flicked it over the ’keeper on the reverse side, it was pretty to watch.”

That pressure goal was Jess’ fourth for the five-day tournament, while Sarah found the back of the net five times.

“My goals were team goals I think, I know it lists the individual, but it was really thanks to the team that I scored,” Sarah said.

“Because it is so fast, it really is a team effort when you score goals.

“I really enjoyed the week, indoor is such a great game. It’s hard because you’ve got a smaller field and it is a quicker game, but I think that’s why I love indoor so much.”

Sarah is now looking ahead to the upcoming women’s Premier League Hockey season with Souths, while Jess will be based in Sydney.