USA Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey Women Place 4th at World Cup Qualifier; Earn Spot in World Cup Field
Schedule & Results

Kate Barber looks for space against Japan in the 3/4 game at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament

ROME - The USA Field Hockey women's national team placed fourth at the World Cup Qualifying Tournament with a 4-1 loss to Japan, but the team accomplished its higher mission by earning a trip to September's World Cup in Madrid.

"I told the team we had to keep things in perspective," said U.S. coach Lee Bodimeade. "We came in with the goal of qualifying for the World Cup and we did that four games ago. That in itself is a very good achievement and now we have to work on the negatives and take with us our positives out of this tournament. It would have been great to get a medal today but the experience will put stand us in better stead come September."

The USA will join continental and ranking qualified teams Argentina, Australia, Germany, India, The Netherlands, South Africa and host Spain as well as qualifier teams England, Korea, Japan and the China/France winner at the World Cup, Sept. 27-Oct. 7.

"We accomplished our goal. Our main focus was to qualify," said U.S. captain Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.). "We're obviously disappointed in the result today. But we're trying to stay positive and we know we have a lot of work to do. Overall we're pretty pleased and we can now move on to our next goal."

With both teams already assured a spot in the 12-team World Cup, Japan capitalized on a pair of its only scoring opportunities of the first half when Sachimi Iwao connected on a field goal in the ninth minute and Toshie Tsukui added a penalty corner in the 27th minute to give Japan a 2-0 lead.

"We had a  large amount of possession for the game and we were presented with opportunities we didn't grasp," said Bodimeade. "We paid the ultimate penalty for being somewhat slack in our marking on defense and when your presented with opportunities, you've got to take them. Again it's getting into those positions that's pleasing, but the key now is coming away and capitalizing on them."

The USA broke through a tough Japan defense just minutes later when Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.) slammed a shot from the top of the circle into the Japan goal to go in to halftime down 2-1.

The USA dominated the first 15 minutes of the second period, but an errant pass led to a Japan penalty corner and Tomomi Komori knocked the ball in to give Japan a sudden 3-1 lead. Kaori Chiba added another goal just minutes later to give Japan the bronze medal.

"Overall we accomplished what we came here to do," said USA defender Kelly Doton (Greenfield, Mass.). "That's the big picture and now we are just going to keep progressing from that."

The USA began the tournament with a 1-1 draw with Ireland as a result of Doton's game-tying penalty corner shot with :30 remaining in the game. The USA then hung on for a 1-0 win over world 6th ranked New Zealand on Lingo's second half goal and edged home-standing Italy in a rain-delayed contest spread across two days.

With the game tied at 1-1 and 9:21 remaining in the game, flooded field conditions called for the suspension of the match until the next morning. In another dramatic finish, Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.) knocked in a penalty corner with less than two minutes left to give the USA the win.

The USA continued its march to Madrid with a 4-2 win over Azerbaijan. The win, in combination with a Korea win over New Zealand, assured the USA a spot in the semifinals and a berth in the World Cup. The team lost its final pool match 3-0 in an experimental game with Korea and lost a heartbreaking 1-0 semifinal match to England with no time left in the overtime period.

"We're pretty pleased. We had a lot of fun. We qualified with enough room to try some things and have a chance at the (medal) podium," said Barber. "We're exactly where we want to be. We're not at our peak by any means and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us in Virginia Beach. I know we have the heart, desire and dedication of everybody on the team. It's just a matter of putting the pieces together."

With the World Cup berth secured, Bodimeade and the USA will return to Virginia Beach to begin their training for the sport of field hockey's world championship. The team's preparations will include a four nation tournament in August featuring the world's three top rated teams including No. 1 The Netherlands, No. 2 Argentina and No. 3 Australia.

"Hard work is the plan," said Bodimeade on the team's preparations for the World Cup. "We need to look at where we are and where we need to be. We need to be getting over the top of these teams when we have the opportunities. We've got Argentina, Netherlands and Australia in, that will be a great opportunity to see just how well we're doing and how are development for the World Cup is going."

The four nation tournament is scheduled for Aug. 17-20 at the Univ. of Maryland in College Park and August 23-27 in Virginia Beach.

But for the trip home, Bodimeade and the USA can revel in the accomplishment of joining the world's top teams at the World Cup.

"Over the moon!" said Bodimeade on his overall impression of the team's play during the tournament. "I'm really, really happy with the progression we've made and where we are. The fact that they are hurting (following losses shows in the semifinal and third place match) shows that they expect more of themselves. With that sort of attitude and resolve, the hard work they are about to embark on should be relatively easier because they can see the benefit from it."

Japan 4, USA 1 (3rd/4th place match)
JPN: Sachimi Iwao (FG, 9:00)
JPN: Toshie Tsukui (PC, 27:00)
USA: Carrie Lingo (FG, 29:00)
JPN: Tomomi Komori (PC, 51:00)
JPN: Kaori Chiba (FG, 54:00)

USA Starters: Kayla Bashore, Melissa Leonetti, Angie Loy, Kelly Doton, Rachel Dawson, Tiffany Snow, Sara Silvetti, April Fronzoni, Barbara Weinberg (GK), Kate Barber, Lauren Powley
Coach: Lee Bodimeade
Reserves: Dina Rizzo, Claire Laubach, Kelsey Keeran, Carrie Lingo, Kristi Gannon

Japan Starters: Mayumi Ono, Yukari Yamamoto, Rika Komazawa, Kaori Chiba, Tomimi Komori, Toshie Tsukui, Sachimi Iwao, Akemi Kato, Miyuki Nakagawa, Misaki Ozawa, Ikuko Okamura (GK)
Coach: John Sheahan
 

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