USA Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey Women advance to Pan Am Championship Match with win over Chile

Keli Smith receives a hug from Kayla Bashore after Smith's pass to Angie Loy gave the USA the lead for good in a 4-1 victory..

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The USA Field Hockey women’s national team erupted for four second half goals in a seven-minute span for a 4-1 semifinal victory over Chile to advance to the Pan American Games championship final.

The USA win sets up the much-anticipated showdown with five-time defending Pan Am Games champion Argentina for the gold medal and the continent’s automatic berth in the 2008 Olympic Games.  The championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Rio time Tuesday, July 24.

Argentina defeated Netherlands Antilles 3-0 in the day’s other semifinal to advance to the championship game.

“We’re feeling pretty good,” said U.S. coach Lee Bodimeade. “Chile is a very good team and played very good against us. They put us under a lot of pressure and to come out and beat a team that has been playing very good hockey has made us cherry-ripe for the final. We’re certainly looking forward to having a real crack at Argentina.”

Tiffany Snow (Escondido, Calif.), Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.), Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.) and Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) all scored goals for the USA in bringing the team back from a 1-0 halftime deficit.

The USA spent a frustrating first half in control of the game but unable to generate meaningful scoring opportunities.  An early penalty corner was saved by Chile keeper Constanza Abud  to thwart the team’s only first half corner.

Chile made the most of its best first half chance when Danielle Infante collected her own rebound off of a save by USA keeper Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.) and slammed the ball in to the cage from a tough angle to put Chile up 1-0 as the first half expired.

“We just knew that we had them on the back foot for most of the first half,” said Smith on the discussion in  a brief team huddle after the Chile goal. “We knew we had to keep persisting, keep attacking and keep sticking to the game plan and the ball would eventually go into the goal.”

The USA wasted little time finding the goal as the second half began.

Snow opened the U.S. scoring rally in the 49^th minute with a penalty corner blast to tie the game at 1-1. A minute later, Smith drew out Chile’s keeper Abud and found Loy alone on the post for an easy tap in and a 2-1 USA lead.

The USA continued its run in the 55^th minute when Lingo slapped a long Kelly Doton (Greenfield, Mass.) pass into the goal for a 3-1 U.S. advantage. Smith capped the scoring a minute later with a blast from the top of the circle.
 

“After the first goal, we just knew we had to score a couple more so we could secure the win,” said Smith. “It just came down to the ball going in the goal. We weren’t necessarily doing anything different.” 

The win sets up a familiar championship match as the USA and Argentina have met in four of the five previous Pan Am finals. Although Argentina has dominated the series, the USA has won two of the last five matches between the Pan Am rivals including a victory in the championship final of May’s Chile Four Nation Tournament.  A 2-1 USA win in September’s AstroTurf March on Madrid Tournament snapped a 15-year Argentina unbeaten streak against the USA.

“We’re just so excited,” said Smith on the upcoming gold medal final with the Olympic berth at stake. “We’ve been waiting for this moment and to get to this game. We’re enjoying the moment but we’re staying focused because we know what’s coming up.”

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USA 4, Chile 1

CHI: Danielle Infante (FG, 35:00)
USA: Tiffany Snow (PC, 49:00)
USA: Angie Loy (FG, 50:00)
USA: Carrie Lingo (FG, 55:00)
USA: Keli Smith (FG, 56:00)

USA Starters: Angie Loy (Loysville, Pa.), Kelly Doton (Greenfield, Mass.), Rachel Dawson (Berlin, N.J.), Tiffany Snow (Escondido, Calif.), Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.), Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.), Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.), Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.), Kayla Bashore (Shoemakersville, Pa.), Lauren Crandall (Doyelstown, Pa.), Lauren Powley (Mountaintop, Pa.)

Reserves: Melissa Leonetti (Erdenheim, Pa.), Sarah Dawson (Berlin, N.J.), Dana Sensenig (Denver, Pa.), Michelle Kasold (Chapel Hill, N.C.), Katelyn Falgowski (Landenberg, Pa.)

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USA Field Hockey 2007 Pan American Games Team

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