It was the second time of the tournament that the Canadian team was playing Hungary. In the preliminary round, Canada won 13-12 in a tightly disputed match. Today was different. The Canadian women took the lead 2-0 rapidly, but it would not last. The Hungarian women found their pace in the middle of the first quarter, and Canada seems unable to adjust. Hungary took the lead in the first quarter 4-3; 3-2 in the second quarter; 6-4 in the third quarter; and finally, both teams exchanged a goal in the last quarter. The Canadian women did play better in the last quarter, but it came too late. The day did belong to Hungary. “We started strongly but they rapidly adjusted defensively and we were unsettled. It became much harder for our team from that point. Hungary has a good team,” mentioned head coach David Paradelo.
In the loss, Kyra Christmas shined with three goals:” Today, we fought hard but just couldn’t finish on all our opportunities. It was a tough loss, but we are keeping our heads up and refocusing on tomorrow’s game.”
The other goal scorers for Canada were: Monika Eggens (2), Emma Wright (2), Shae La Roche (2), Kelly Mckee.
The game against Russia for bronze tomorrow promises to be closely disputed. Both teams played against each other in in the preliminary round of the tournament and Canada won that game 12-10. Russia is one of the top teams in the world rankings. The Russian team will be part of the Olympic Tournament that will begin in a month in Tokyo. “Russia plays a fast pace game. We will need to be ready,” David Paradelo said after today’s game.
Tomorrow’s game will be played at 11:30 a.m. ET live from Athens, Greece.
18U National Championships
Markham, ON
Markham Pan Am Centre
