The Canadian Women’s field hockey team lost their shot at a gold medal at the Pan Am Games Wednesday in Guadalajara.
The team faced a tough U.S. side that’s number- four ranked in the world and lost the semifinal in a close 4-2 match.
Brienne Stairs of Kitchener, Ont., had both goals for the Canadians who only trailed the U.S. 2-1 at the half.
Veteran Thea Culley of Rossland had high hopes for the team since a big victory over Barbados, a close match with number-one Argentina and a last minute win against Trinidad and Tobago earlier this week sent them into the semis.
The loss sets the stage for the final between Argentina and U.S.A while Canada will play Chile for the bronze on Friday at 1 p.m. Pacific Time.
The Canada Men’s field hockey team meanwhile finished pool play unbeaten at the Games winning their third game of the competition against Barbados,10-0.
Canada asserted itself early in the match and took a three-goal lead over Barbados in the first 10 minutes of play. Canada finishes at the top of pool A and will now play in semifinal today at 11:30 against the loser of the game between Argentina and Cuba.
“We beat Barbados today, and in doing so secured first place in our pool - so we’re obviously happy about that,” says Head Coach Robin D’Abreo.
“Our game plan against Barbados was to stick to what we normally do as a team... play to our capability and still play a team game - and that was certainly reflected in the scoreline today. I’m excited about the performance and looking forward to the next game.”