It was a change of pace as the Canadian and American Under-21 men’s teams played a morning match Friday in Surrey, British Columbia, but the result was the same with Canada winning their third straight against the U.S. 3-0 in the penultimate match of the U21 series.
Tom Fannin opened the scoring and goals from Brandon Pereira and Jamie Wallace combined with a shutout from Cameron Bonney and Lydon Lemos, who split the goalkeeping duties, led the Canadians to victory.
Of the three mathces played so far, this one began the closest with the Americans playing strong defensively.
The first quarter was scoreless with Canada’s best chance coming on a penalty corner in the fourth minute, when a Brandon Pereira flick couldn’t connect.
The U.S. had an opportunity to take their first lead of the series when Canada was issued a card and went a man down, but the visitors – despite posession – couldn’t mount a quality scoring chance.
In the twenty third minute, the Canadians opened the scoring when Kabir Aujla intercepted a zone clearance from the States and showed patience with the ball before finding Fannin at the side of the goal for the tap-in.
Before the half was out, the U.S. began to gain spurts of possession but once again couldn’t break through the Canadian defence before time ran out.
Nine minutes into the second half, the U.S. had their best chance of the game on a penalty corner but the flick attempt went wide of the goal.
The game remained close until the final ten minutes, when Canada was able to score two quick goals.
First, Pereira scored his third drag flick goal in two games on a penalty corner in the fifty-second minute. Then, Jamie Wallace finished off a nice passing play for the third goal.
The final game of the series goes Saturday morning at 10:00am at Surrey’s Tamanawis Field.
