USA Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey Women advance to World Cup 5^th-8^th playoff with win over Korea
 

Lauren Powley defends against Korea's Seon Mi Park in the USA's 1-0 win.

MADRID (10/04/06) –  The USA Field Hockey women’s national team advanced to the Samsung World Cup’s 5^th-8^th place playoff with a 1-0 win over Korea.

Needing a victory or a draw to advance to the mid-level playoff in the 12 team tournament, the 11^th-seeded USA (2-2-1) got a goal from captain Kate Barber in the 31^st minute and used a strong defensive effort in the second half to secure the victory over the world’s 7^th ranked team.

“Korea are a fantastic team and we knew had to be on our game,” said U.S. coach Lee Bodiemeade. “We felt if we got out in front that we would have the determination to get ourselves over the line. But when you get up against a side as good as Korea, you just hope one goal is going to be good enough.”

With the victory, the USA places third in Pool B and will next play Pool A’s fourth place team, Germany, when crossover play begins on Friday. Argentina, Australia, The Netherlands and host Spain qualified for the World Cup semifinals

The USA dominated much of the first half, but could not find the Korea goal until Barber turned and deposited a shot high into the Korea net with under 4 minutes left in the half.

“I’ve said it before, I wouldn’t trade her for anyone here,” said Bodimeade on the three-time World Cup veteran Barber.

The USA then handed the game to its defense and the team promptly cut off the vaunted Korea running attack and secured its second consecutive World Cup win.

“They threw a lot of numbers at us in the second half,” said U.S. defender Rachel Dawson on Korea’s frantic attempt to draw even after halftime. “We just had to stay composed and organized on defense. (Goalkeeper) Amy Tran did a great job talking to us and making sure all of their players were picked up. We just had to persist until the final minute.”

The USA survived a final Korea penalty corner attempt as time expired to preserve the shutout and continue its quest for its best World Cup finish since 1994 (3^rd).

The USA’s appearance in the 5^th-8^th classification pool guarantees the team a better finish over its 9^th place showing at the 2002 World Cup and should move the team up from its current 12^th place standing in the World Rankings.

“We feel great,” said Dawson on the team’s attitude going into the classification rounds. “We started off with two losses (to No. 2 Argentina and No. 3 seed Australia)  games, got a tie (vs. Japan) and now we have two wins under our belt. So it’s a progression upwards and hopefully that progression will continue.”

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