Canada, whose roster is here, met the defending champions in Team USA yesterday in the semifinal with a berth in the Pan Am Games final on the line. The key in all of this is that the winner of the tournament gets an automatic berth in the Tokyo Olympics as the Americas representative in that tournament. While there are still other opportunities to make the Olympics, grabbing an automatic berth in the world's biggest competition next summer would be a major step forward for field hockey in this country.
Canada entered last night's game with a 2-0-1 record, falling only to Argentina in their pool play on July 31 by a 3-0 score. After defeating Cuba 10-0 on July 29, Uruguay 5-0 on August 2, and Mexico 9-0 in the quarterfinal crossover game, Canada advanced to play the USA who went 3-0 in Pool B and downed Cuba by a 9-0 score in their quarterfinal crossover game.
Canada started the game well with accurate passing, leading to a Katherine Wright backhand attempt that sailed just high over the crossbar. However, the ball movement and uptempo play eventually landed Canada a penalty corner in the tenth minute. That proved costly for the Americans as Canadian Karli Johansen of North Vancouver converted the penalty corner for her first goal of the tournament, and Canada went up 1-0!
Canada wasn't done there as they stormed back down the field and nearly made it 2-0 off a Stephanie Norlander flick towards the American goal, but US defender Julia Young kept the deficit to one goal with a timely block on the goal line. Canada was clearly the more aggressive squad in the opening 15-minute frame, but they could only count one goal for their efforts.
The US came out hungrier in the second as evidenced by their play, and they had chances in the Canadian end only to send balls wide of the goal or to be denied by the Canadian side. Goaltender Kaitlyn Williams of White Rock, BC made a couple of key saves for Canada while the Canadian defence thwarted developing chances by the Americans. Canada had another penalty corner where they nearly scored, but Sara McManus hit the side of the net after recovering a blocked shot. As the two teams went into halftime, the score remained 1-0 in favour of Canada.
Five minutes in to the second half with both teams pressing for goals, we'd see a celebration on the field. Katherine Wright flicked a shot towards the net that was stopped, but Madeline Secco of Victoria, BC dove towards the net and pushed the ball across the line to increase Canada's lead to 2-0 in the 35th minute! After the goal, the Americans upped their efforts, but Canada went into a bit of a defensive shell, looking for opportunities to transition the ball up the field as opposed to trying to force the ball up the field. When the whistle blew to end the third quarter, Canada held a 2-0 lead!
The Americans, sensing their championship defence may end, gave Canada all it could handle in the fourth quarter, but the Canadians withstood the pressure. Despite a late surge by the Americans, Canada would hold on for victory by the 2-0 score as they advanced to the gold-medal final!
Canada, who was ranked 18th in the world entering this tournament, had dispatched arguably their biggest rivals on the international stage in the 13th-ranked American squad. To say the American women were disappointed might be an understatement.
"We knew that Canada is dangerous on the counter-attack," US midfielder Kathleen Sharkey stated to Gregory Strong of The Canadian Press. "We just needed to always be turned on on defence."
Canada will play in their toughest test of the tournament on Friday when they square off against the only team who defeated them in Argentina. Las Leonas are the third-ranked team in the world, and they laid waste to everyone they have played thus far, allowing just two goals through the entire tournament. For Canada, however, the opportunity is one they sought since the first whistle.
"We're lucky to have another crack at Argentina," Wright told Strong. "We think we can really compete against them. They're also a very skilled, talented side. But we're going to bring that Canadian grit and that Canadian passion and really play well against them."
The gold medal will be awarded on Friday, but I can tell you that I'm already extremely proud of these ladies as they wear the maple leaf with pride. They upset the Americans and are already talking about taking it to Argentina, so here's hoping they can continue their strong play and bring home a gold medal after a week of strong play! Well done, ladies, and HBIC is rooting for you!
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!
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