Canada defeated by Belarus, finishes 6th at Champions Challenge II

June 27, 2009

The Canadian women’s national field hockey team was defeated by Belarus 1-2 Saturday morning in their final contest of the FIH Champions Challenge II in Kazan, Russia.  The loss means Canada finishes in sixth-place in the eight-team tournament.

Photo: PAHF / Alex Masters

“We dominated the game for the majority of the match, unfortunately the score did not reflect that,” said head coach Louis Mendonca.

Belarus went ahead 1-0 in the 35th minute when team captain Volha Shyntar converted a penalty stroke.  They were able to double the lead in the 57th minute on a penalty corner.

Stephanie Jameson of Vancouver, British Columbia scored Canada’s only goal of the game in the 66th minute to cut the lead in half.  Unfortunately the Canadians were unable to complete the comeback.

The Belarusians collected several infractions throughout the game including three yellow cards and a red card 65th minute.

The Champions Challenge II is an international field hockey competition sanctioned by the FIH that will be making its debut in 2009.  The tournament is held every two years and is contested by the top eight teams not competing in the premier-level Champions Trophy or Champions Challenge I.  The winner of the competition will be promoted to the Champions Challenge I in 2011.

India will face Belgium later today in the final.

Starting Lineup

A.Liu

S.Jameson

A.Raye

D.Roemer

A.Kozniuk

T.Flexman

S.Elmitt

K.Rushton

S.Nesbitt

J.Walkey

K.Baker

Did not Play

A.Stone

P. Sandhu

J. Trautman