Pereira’s last-second stroke leads to 1-1 draw in Birmingham
With the seconds ticking away and Ghana up 1-0, Canada made one last ditch effort. Team Canada played the ball into the circle and was awarded a last-second stroke. Keegan Pereira made good on the conversion and the game finished 1-0.
The chaos in the final seconds defined a wild, back-and-forth match between Canada and Ghana in the second round of the Commonwealth Games.
After dropping their opener against Wales, the Canadian Men’s National Team looked to respond with a result against Ghana in their second match. The first quarter favoured Canada as they held the possession and attacking advantage but had no goals to show for it.
Canada and Ghana play to a 1-1 draw at the Commonwealth Games. Photos/Yan Huckendubler.
The match momentum shifted when Ghana’s Benjamin Kwofie finished a creative team build up and established a 1-0 lead for Ghana at the half. The goal marked their Men’s National Team’s first Commonwealth Games goal. On the other side of the pitch, Ghana’s goalkeeper, Duisberg Offei, made consecutive sensational saves, frustrating the Canadian attackers.
In the second half, the game flew back and forth with both teams achieving penalty corners, shot attempts and circle entries. Canada still held the possession advantage but trailed by one and the feeling of the game started to get frantic, which benefited the Ghanain side.
Canadian goalkeeper, Tristain Burgoyne made some clutch saves during the second half including an important PC stoppage at the start of the fourth quarter, and a few field attempt saves in the dying minutes keeping the game a one-goal margin.
The Canadian attack continued into the final minutes, as coach Peter Milkovich pulled the keeper and added an extra attacker. Offei and a collapsed Ghana defense continued to thwart the Canadian attack. It looked too little, too late but one final foray into the circle yielded a stick tackle and ultimately an umpires decision for a stroke.
Keegan Pereira calmly stepped up with no time on the clock and buried the stroke. The game finished as a 1-1 draw.
Canada’s next match is against India on August 3, at 600am PT/900am ET. They will then take on hosts, England in their final pool-play matchup. India and England played to a 4-4 draw on August 1. The six daily streaming feeds of the competitions will be available on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and up-to-the-minute news across CBC Sports digital and social media platforms. All matches will be available via CBC.
