Tenerife, Spain (June 16).— Australia earned its 4th consecutive medal at a major championship since their World Cup success in 2006 in China.
Canada opened this scoring and held the lead for the 1st quarter as Australia wasted too many of its scoring opportunities.
Australia finally got on the board with a ‘Taniele Gofers extra in the 2nd before Canada responded with their own extra man. Mia Santoromito evened up the game at 2-2 with a booming bounce shot from the right wing after a good cross pass from Amy Hetzel.
The 3rd quarter started with a quick ball to Gemma Beadsworth at centre forward who converted with a sharp shot to put Australia ahead for the 1st time. Canada then hit back straight away with a deflection shot before a Bronwen Knox penalty put Australia ahead again. Canada equalised again with a goal from extra before a Suzie Fraser goal in extra gave the lead back to Australia. Canada however responded with another extra to have the scores locked up at 5-5 heading into the last quarter.
A Bronwen Knox counter attack early in the 4th put the score back out to 1 but Canada fought back with another extra man goal to level it again. Missed opportunities by both teams saw the score remained locked until Australia’s player of the tournament Gemma Beadsworth scored a lob in extra with 2.20 remaining.
Canada called a timeout with 14 seconds left and fortunately Australia’s defence held and the Bronze Medal was Australia’s.
Coach McFadden said “While it was not pretty the team stuck together and got the result we were after. Missed opportunities really put pressure on us and with selections hanging over player’s heads this only added to the pressure”.
“Our defence was solid for most of the game and we should have built a good base for our counter attack around this.”
“There is still lot’s of improvement to come from everyone and hopefully once we settle on our Olympic team players will relax and play to their potential”.
Best players – G. Beadsworth, A. McCormack, & M. Santoromito
Goal scorers
Aust 7 – G.Beadsworth 2, B. Knox 2, M. Santoromito 1, S. Fraser 1, T. Gofers 1
Defeated Canada 6
A McCormack 12 saves
AUS Extra 4 from 10 Penalties 1 from 1
CAN Extra 4 from 9 Penalties 0 from 0
Didn’t play E. Knox, K. Gynther, J. Santoromito
Other results 5th place China 7 defeated Spain 5
Gold medal Russia 7 defeated USA 6
Goalkeeper of the tournament Betsy Armstrong USA
Player of the tournament Sofia Konukh Russia
