But as Jason Lee's squad continued their World Cup build-up with a four nations tournament in Bremen, Germany, they found themselves overwhelmed by four second-half goals from the Hockeyroos.
Speedy Birmingham University striker Owsley showed again that she is not frightened of scoring as she picked the ball up from some good midfield interplay and found space to fire home a shot into the bottom corner.
But two penalty corner conversions from Anna Flanagan and a field goal from Georgie Parker saw the Australians 3-1 up after 63 minutes. With just over four minutes remaining England switched to 11 outfield players and were immediately rewarded through an Alex Danson field goal but then Jodie Penny scored from another corner in the final minute to give the Hockeyroos a 4-2 victory.
England were missing their captain Kate Richardson-Walsh, who suffered a slight ankle injury last week, though she has travelled with the squad. Surbiton's Giselle Ansley was brought in as her replacement. Leicester's Hannah Macleod made her 100th combined international appearance for England & GB.
Coach Lee said: "It was a hard fought game and we played some really good hockey across the first 35 minutes. The girls played to the tactics very well and did exactly what was expected of them. We took a well deserved lead into the break and certainly had opportunities to extend it in the run up to half-time, but unfortunately we were unable convert.
"We maintained most of our good play across the second half, but Australia upped their game and were able to take advantage of their strengths in one or two areas of the pitch, especially with Anna Flanagan on penalty corners."