CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE I
Goals from Sukhwinder Singh, Matt Guest, Scott Tupper and Keegan Pereira helped Canada fight back from two goals down to defeat Poland 4-2 in the second match of the day here in Quilmes. The result means that Canada have sealed a place in Sunday’s 5-6 place play-off, where they will face Japan, who were victors against South Africa earlier in the day. Poland will play South Africa in the 7-8 Classification match.
Very much like their match against Argentina on Thursday, Canada were sluggish starters in this encounter and soon found themselves 2-0 down. Poland striker Matias Hulboj hit a quick-fire double between the 10thand 12th minutes, with team captain Dariusz Rachwalski having a hand in both goals. Eventually Canada settled and began to look dangerous going forward before pulling a goal back through Sukhwinder Singh, who tapped in from close range following some nice build-up play in the 22nd minute. Canada’s equaliser arrived six minutes later minutes later when a smart cross from the right was expertly converted by the diving Matt Guest.
The north Americans soaked up a great deal of Polish pressure in the early stages of the second half, and could easily have fallen behind once again when the dangerous Hulboj fired over the crossbar with an instinctive effort. As in the first period, Canada grew in confidence as the half progressed. Jagdesh Gill went close to scoring with a fierce strike from the right before Scott Tupper moved his team into a 3-2 lead thanks to a penalty corner rocket 12 minutes from the end. It was a goal which seemed to the break the spirit of the Poles, and it was not long before Canada hit a fourth goal thanks to Keegan Pereira’s 62ndminute field goal which completed the scoring.
Quotes:
Anthony Farry (CAN Coach)
“I think that they guys deserve all the credit for this victory. Coming back from 2-0 down is always a tough thing, especially in matches like this. Poland put us under a lot of pressure and are a very tough team, so I’m really proud of the guys today.”
Scott Tupper (CAN Captain)
“Obviously in any match you don’t want to fall behind, so it was a bit disappointing early, but I think this was a hugely rewarding result for the team, as we showed that we are capable of coming back from a deficit, and scoring four goals was really nice. Once we got the two goal lead in the second half we had the professionalism to get the result. It was really nice to see.”
U17 TEST SERIES
Team Canada came out of the gate firing scoring in the second minute and never looked back. Balraj Panesar hammered a backhand from a sharp angle beating the American goalie cleanly. The USA managed to control the ball for the next 10 minutes until Kabir Ajula of Surrey, BC scored on a brilliant individual effort in the 13th minute beating two midfielders before shooting from the top of the circle. Ajula’s goal seemed to lift the Canadians who began to control the play and were rewarded after a four way passing play ending with Rohan Chopra of Ottawa, ON lifting it over the goalkeeper.
Chopra scored his second of the game on a tip in off a great pass from Nick Howard of Vancouver in the 42 minute. Amrit Sidhu rounded out the scoring in the 60th minute after Chopra picked the pocket of a US defender at the 25 yard line and moved in on the goalie. Chopra slipped it over to Sidhu who fired it into the open goal. Liam Manning of Ottawa registered the shutout. Coach Mathias Ahrens “It was a solid performance and very good to see the increasing winning expectation of the boys. We would like to come home with a clean sweep of the series”
The final game goes tomorrow at 10 AM PST at Moorpark, CA
Goal Scorers
Balraj Panesar
Kabir Ajula
Rohan Chopra (2)
Amrit Sidhu
