“Sunny California” woke up in pouring rain for day 2 of the World League Round 2 in San Diego. Both Russia and Canada had solid wins on opening day and were looking at comforting their position in Pool B. Canada thought that they had scored in the 2nd minute after creating havoc in the Russian circle, but the umpire had spotted a foul.

Play was balanced but slowed down by the soaked pitch. Dave Carter in the Canadian goal was called early into action and Canada survived a series of penalty-corners, then play turned into an exchange of high balls before Canada managed to arrive close enough to the Russian goal to score, Iain Smythe having the last touch to open the score.

Canada tried to take control of tempo in the second quarter but play was often bogged down on the heavy pitch and both teams had trouble stringing their passes or developing their actions. Canada managed to still a ball from the Russian defense in the dying seconds of the half and force a penalty-corner, but the injection was slow (or slowed down by water…) and the half-time break was reached with only the one-goal lead for the North Americans.

Play opened up in the third quarter with both teams developing more attacking hockey. Canada had some sustained pressure early, however the first real scoring chance was for Russia, earning a penalty-corner after a quick counter-attack but they could not capitalize on the three successive retakes. They were more efficient a few minutes later when Nikolay Komarov surprised the Canadian defense with a quick shot from a messy situation in front of the goal, tying the score before the end of the third quarter.

Russia scored early in the fourth quarter by Alexander Palyanitsa and things suddenly looked bleak for the Canadians. They had a few narrow misses but the Russians had by now retreated into a compact defensive structure and there was little room to manoeuvre close to the circle. Canada besieged the Russian circle for the last ten minutes of the match, but they could not find an opening… until the last minute when they earned a penalty-corner. Their first attempt was wide and the repeat deflected by the runners, so Russia earned their second win of the competition and took the lead of Pool B.