In the matches to decide who plays in fifth through eighth place matches will be between Cuba and Mexico; and the Dominican Republic and Uruguay. The biggest win of the day was the United States 15-0 win over the Dominican Republic. While Canada faced tough defense to come away with the narrow 2-0 win over Uruguay. The semifinal and cross-over matches will take place on 22 July with game times being modified to 9:00, 11:30, 17:00 and 19:30 to allow for the possibility of shoot outs. Please check back here for score updates, pictures, video interviews, and more throughout the competition.
Canada vs. Uruguay: 2-0 (ht: 0-0)
In the final women’s quarterfinal match host Canada met Uruguay. Uruguay rushed on attack first and earned the first penalty corner of the match in the fifth minute, but the shot was blocked by Canada’s keeper Kaitlyn Williams. Uruguay continued to attack, but Williams and the rest of Canada’s defense was able to recover the ball. For the next five minutes, Canada held possession. Uruguay defended extremely well to prevent Canada from getting anywhere near its attacking circle. With either team unable to get into their attacking circle at the end of the quarter, the match remained scoreless going into the second quarter.
The second quarter started with Canada on the attack; and Captain Kate Gillis found Hannah Haughn running towards goal, but Haughn was unable to finish. In the 17th minute Canada earned a penalty corner, but the shot was saved by Uruguay’s keeper Rosanna Paselle. Two minutes later Canada had another penalty corner opportunity, but could not execute the play. Canada continued to attack, but Paselle again made big saves to keep the match scoreless. With Uruguay doing an excellent job of forcing Canada’s possession in the midfield the halftime score remained Canada 0, Uruguay 0.
The third quarter also started with Canada controlling the possession, but with Uruguay still maintaining great positioning to keep Canada from entering its attacking circle. When Canada looked to enter its circle a few minutes into the quarter, Uruguay’s Manuela Vilar was there to break up the play. Canada continued to look to attack and a Maddie Secco shot stopped by Cecilia Casarotti led to a penalty corner. Canada’s Abi Raye perfectly finished the penalty corner play by lifting the ball around Paselle to break the scoreless match and give Canada the lead in the 37th minute. Canada continued to pressure on attack and earned a couple more penalty corners that were again well defended by Uruguay to keep Canada from scoring further. Paselle made one more big save and the score remained Canada 1, Uruguay 0 at the end of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter continued with Uruguay playing extremely strong defense against an attacking Canadian side. Canada earned their first penalty corner of the fourth quarter in the 50th minute. Canada’s Karli Johansen sent a beautiful high drag flick into the top right corner of the goal to give her team a two goal lead over Uruguay with nine minutes remaining in the match. A few minutes later Uruguay had the ball in their attacking half, but could not manage to get a shot off and the ball went over the endline, such that Canada regained possession. Canada was immediately back on attack with a penalty corner opportunity in the 57th, but could not capitalize. While Uruguay continued to hold off Canada, Canada also made sure that Uruguay could not get a scoring opportunity late in the match. Thus, the final result was Canada 2, Uruguay 0. With the win, Canada advances to the other semifinal and will face United States.
United States vs. Dominican Republic: 15-0 (ht: 6-0)
The third women’s quarterfinal was between United States and the Dominican Republic. The match started with the United States pressuring heavily on attack. The United States earned the first penalty corner of the match in the fifth minute, but did not execute the penalty corner play. Cindy De La Rosa, the Dominican Republic keeper, made big saves to keep the United States off the scoreboard. Paige Selenski broke through in the ninth minute as she just barely pushed the ball into goal on the post to make the score United States 1, Dominican Republic 0. The United States kept pressuring on attack, but De La Rosa kept leading her defense to hold off the United States. In the 15th minute the United States was able to earn another penalty corner. De La Rosa saved the initial shot, but Michelle Kasold was there for the rebound and immediately scored to put the United States two goals ahead of the Dominican Republic to close out the first quarter.
As the second quarter started, the United States kept up their scoring momentum as Kelsey Kolojejchick scored off a hard hit in the 18th minute to make the score United States 3, Dominican Republic 0. Off the restart, Agustina Birocho had the ball down in the Dominican Republic’s attacking end very briefly as the United States quickly regained possession and ran on attack. Jill Witmer pushed the ball right past De La Rosa making it United States 4, Dominican Republic 0 by the 20th minute. The United States kept possession in their attacking half and in the 26th minute Katie O’Donnell scored to put her team ahead by five goals. Then Kolojejchick beat De La Rosa on the goal post to make the score United States 6, Dominican Republic 0 in the 28th minute. The United States earned two penalty corners in the 30th minute, but De La Rosa saved both shots to keep the score at halftime United States 6, Dominican Republic 0.
Following the halftime break, the United States immediately went on attack and Kolojejchick scored her third goal of the match off a penalty corner in the 32nd minute. A minute later, Katie Reinprecht then put in a hard shot to make the score United States 8, Dominican Republic 0. Two minutes later, Rachel Dawson’s drag flick off a penalty corner put her team ahead by nine goals. Kolojejchick then had her fourth goal of the match in the 36th minute to make the score United States 10, Dominican Republic 0. Play continued in the United States attacking area and Stefanie Fee hit a hard shot off a penalty corner in the 40th minute to make it United States 11, Dominican Republic 0. After De La Rosa blocked a couple more United States’ penalty corner shot, Melissa Gonzalez got a penalty corner shot past De La Rosa to make the score United States 12, Dominican Republic 0 that remained until the end of the third quarter.
The United States continued their rapid scoring in the fourth quarter when Katelyn Falgowski put one in for the United States in the 46th minute. In the 51st minute the Dominican Republic was able to get the ball down in their attacking end, but could not get into their attacking circle to get a shot off. Witmer then scored off a penalty corner after the initial shot hit the goal post to make the score United States 14, Dominican Republic 0 in the 55th minute. A hard goal by O’Donnell in the 60th minute made the final score United States 15, Dominican Republic 0.
Chile vs. Mexico: 7-0 (ht: 3-0)
The second women’s quarter final match was between Chile and Mexico. From the opening whistle, Chile was really fast on the attack taking the lead in the first minute off a goal by Carolina Garcia. Chile continued to pressure on attack, but could not manage many shots past Mexico. In the 10th minute, Chile had the first penalty corner of the match, but the shot went wide. A minute later, Javiera Villagra found a pretty open net to make the score Chile 2, Mexico 0. With Mexico continuing to play hard defense, Chile kept their two goal lead going into the second quarter.
Throughout the second quarter, Chile continued to dominate possession and play was mostly in Chile’s attacking half of the pitch. Mexico prevented Chile from obtaining penalty corner opportunities from their attack for nearly all of the second quarter. Yet, Chile’s Manuela Urroz capitalized off her team’s attacking pressure by hitting a hard shot past Mexico’s keeper Jesus Castillo in the 24th minute making the score Chile 3, Mexico 0. And in the 30th minute Chile earned a penalty corner, but again the hard penalty corner shot went wide. Thus, the score at halftime remained Chile 3, Mexico, 0.
Chile started the third quarter just like they did the begging of the match with a very quick goal. Urroz scored her second goal of the match of a deflection from a well executed penalty corner play to make the score Chile 4, Mexico 0 in the 33rd minute. Chile immediately earned another penalty corner, but Castillo saved the shot. Mexico then had their first attacking opportunity of the match and immediately earned a penalty corner in the 34th minute. Chile played good team defense to block up the penalty corner to regain possession. Chile was fast back on the attack and Francisca Tala found Francisca Vidaurre who put her team ahead of Mexico by five goals in the 37th minute. Less than a minute later, Chile had three more penalty corners, but Castillo continued to make big saves. Yet, Chile’s Agustina Venegas then made the score Chile 6, Mexico 0 when she deflected a great ball past Castillo in the 40th minute. A minute later, Chile had a penalty corner, but the shot was too high. Chile kept up their attacking intensity and earned two more penalty corners in the 44th minute. Chile’s offenders then put together a beautiful passing combination to find Urroz on the post to tap the ball in to make it Chile 7, Mexico 0; that remained the score as the third quarter ended.
In the fourth quarter, Chile continued to have the majority of possession. Mexico, however, played very strong defense to prevent Chile from taking many shots or having many penalty corners in the fourth quarter. In the 51st minute, Chile’s Camila Caram received a green card, but Mexico was unable to take advantage. Mexico continued to play good team defense to prevent Chile from penetrating their attacking circle for nearly the rest of the quarter. With Chile unable to get a shot off in the final minute the final score remained Chile 7, Mexico 0.
Argentina vs. Cuba: 10-0 (ht: 7-0)
The first quarter-final match of the Pan American Games women was between Argentina and Cuba. Argentina immediately pressured on attack from the start and earned their first penalty corner of the match in the 5th minute. Rocio Sanchez collected the ball on the penalty corner play and pushed the ball far past Cuba’s keeper Heidy Gonzalez. Argentina continued to maintain possession. Yailyn Abrahan and Captain Mileysi Argentel did a good job on defense, especially in the midfield, to hold off the Argentina attack; including another penalty corner by Argentina in the 9th minute. As a result, Cuba had their first scoring opportunity of the match in the 10th minute with a shot by Marisbel Sierra that went wide. Argentina earned three more penalty corner in the 15th minute, but Sierra and keeper Gonzalez broke up the first two plays. Argentina’s Barrionuevo converted the third penalty corner of the minute to put her team ahead by two goals to end the first quarter of the match.
Argentina kept up their attacking intensity in the second quarter. Sanchez converted another penalty corner opportunity in the 17th minute to make the score Argentina 3, Cuba 0. Pilar Romag quickly gave her team a four goal lead with a reverse shot in the 20th minute. Two minutes later, Barrionuevo and Florencia Habif, respectively, scored back-to-back penalty corner goals to make the score Argentina 6, Cuba 0 by the 24th minute. After these two penalty corner goals, Cuba substituted their keeper Gonzalez for reserve keeper Yusnaidy Bentacourt. Argentina’s Luciana Molina quickly got past Bentacourt to make the score Argentina 7, Cuba 0.
To start the third quarter, play was in Argentina’s attacking circle. Bentacourt made a number of big saves and with Captain Argentel Cuba played strong defense to prevent Argentina from increasing their lead for much of the third quarter. In the 43rd minute, Barrionuevo scored another penalty corner goal making the score Argentina 8, Cuba 0. Cuba’s defense prevented Argentina from scoring further in the third quarter to keep the score Argentina 8, Cuba 0.
The fourth quarter featured constant penalty corners for Argentina. Again, Bentacourt kept making saves and Cuba’s Brirzaida Ramos also made some defensive saves on corners to prevent Argentina from capitalizing off many of their penalty corners in the fourth quarter. Barrionuevo and Sanchez each converted corners in the 51st and 52nd minutes to make the score Argentina 10, Cuba 0. Roseli Harrys also played strong defense for Cuba that helped Cuba to continue to keep Argentina from capitalizing off many penalty corners in the rest of the match. Behind four goals from Barrionuevo and three from Sanchez, respectively, Argentina came away with the 10-0 win over Cuba.
The semifinal and cross-over matches will take place on 22 July with game times being modified to 9:00, 11:30, 17:00 and 19:30 to allow for the possibility of shoot outs. Please check back here for score updates, pictures, video interviews, and more throughout the competition.
