Canada Handily Defeats USA in Game 1
October 28, 2009
Report by Omar Rawji
Upon completion of the seven game series with India, Canada’s Head Coach Alan Brahmst was unhappy with his team’s finishing ability. The team did not capitalize on enough of their field goal opportunities, and their penalty corner conversion was a disappointing 17%. In the first match of four against USA on Wednesday evening, that all changed.
Canada scored on two short corners, taking an early 2-0 lead and going 2 for 6. In the second half of the match, the home side stretched the 2-1 lead by scoring 3 more field goals.
USA’s single goal came in the 34th minute. A broken corner was deflected into the net by Remco Couwenbergh, who scored a bit of a lucky one, giving the team a lift just before halftime. But 12 minutes into the second half, Mark Pearson scored his first of two, putting Canada up 3-1.
Canada’s fourth goal was a beauty: in the 52nd minute, Phil Wright shot a ball off the crossbar. Upon retrieving his own rebound, Wright smartly passed it over to Scott Tupper who spun and deftly reverse sticked the ball into the net.
Both Tupper and Pearson made an immediate impact in their return from the German Bundesliga, as each scored two goals apiece – Tupper scoring on a penalty corner and a field goal, and Pearson scoring two field goals. Wayne Fernandes scored Canada’s other goal on the penalty corner.
Coach Brahmst was pleased with the fact that Canada dictated the majority of the play, “We had good control of the midfield,” he said. “And we made good rotations to open up a lot of gaps in the US defense.”
For Game 2, taking place tonight, two players will draw into the 16 man roster – Stephen Bissett and Antoni Kindler will get their first taste of international action.
The match is scheduled for 7pm at Wright Field.
Scoring Summary:
9’ – CAN Tupper, Scott (PC) 1-0 Canada
25’ – CAN Fernandes, Wayne (PC) 2-0 Canada
34’ – USA Couwenbergh, Remco (PC) 2-1 USA
48’ – CAN Pearson, Mark (FG) 3-1 Canada
52’ – CAN Tupper, Scott (FG) 4-1 Canada
65’ – CAN Pearson, Mark (FG) 5-1 Canada
Penalty Corner Chances: CAN 6 – USA 2
