Argentina and Chile faced off in the Pan American Cup in Lancaster in one of the most rivaled games of the day. It was a stingy battle that saw the Leonas triumph 2-1 thanks to goals from Maria Granatto and Maria Campoy. Sofia Walbaum scored for Chile on a penalty corner in the last minute of the game.

It has been two weeks since the Diablas andLeonas faced each other in international competition. There last match up in South Africa was at the FIH Hockey World League Semifinals, where Chile finished seventh under the leadership of coach Cachito Vigil, meaning this tournament is their last chance to qualify for the 2018 World Cup held in London. Argentina finished fourth but still qualify for the World Cup meaning they only ticked one of two boxes as set out by their coach Agustín Corradini.

The game started with a fast pace from both teams that both tried to gather attack through their strengths in midfield. In the 3^rd minute Julia Gomez Fantasia earned the first penalty corner for Argentina. Luciana von der Heyde shot the resulting rebound but the Chilean goalie Claudia Schuler cleared the ball without issue. In the 8th minute, a turnover in front of Schuler fell close to the stick of Majo Granatto, who dove with determination to lift Argentina up 1-0. At the 11^th minute Denise Krimerman fired a shot across the goal mouth looking to equalize but the Leonas remained in the lead by one.

The second half started with Chilean attack generated by Carolina Garcia, who until now had been the most prominent for both offence and defence. In this quarter Chile obtained their first penalty corner but were unable to capitalize, mostly due to Argentina’s experienced keeper Belén Succi. Succi’s pads denied an air-born strike by Kim Jacob. At the 44^th minute Pilar Campoy had a burst of speed down the right side and finished off a rocket of a shot to send Argentina up 2-0.

Chile seemed to find their strides in the final quarter, earning a few penalty corner chances but they were stymied away by Suzzi. The Diablas continued their pressure on the Aregentine area including generating another Kim Jacob chance but it flew high over the cross bar. Seconds to the end of the match, Florencia Habif’s hard stick foul on Urroz was upgraded to a penalty corner. Sofia Walbaum’s deflection converted but it was too late as Argentina takes the victory 2-1 to top Pool B.