Canada and Japan maintain perfect records in Tacarigua

Day 3

Pool B – Switzerland vs. Russia

Switzerland came out looking to overturn a negative goal difference to lift themselves off the bottom of the table. They controlled the early tempo of the game and forced a couple early penalty corners. The Russian defence held firm and eventually their offence started to assert themselves, taking the with a FG. Russia took control of the third quarter scoring three PC goals with one Swiss FG giving them hope. There were no other goals in the 4^th quarter giving Russia the win and 2^nd place in Pool B pending the Japan vs. Trinidad & Tobago match. Final score 4-1 Russia.

Pool A – USA vs. Chile

USA took early control of the match pushing Chile into their defensive third of the field. The defending was good and kept the Americans scoreless going into the 3^rd quarter, while sneaking in a goal with their first PC. Early in the 3^rd quarter the Chileans doubled their lead from another PC and were set to take a 2-0 lead into the 4^th quarter when a FG just before the break brought them back into the game. An early 4^th quarter PC goal from the Americans levelled the game and they pushed hard for a winner, but the Chileans held firm for a 2-2 score at full time. From the shootout the USA scored 2 out of 3 attempts while the Chileans missed all 4 of theirs to give the Americans the win and second place in Pool A. Final shootout score 2-0 USA (2-2 FT).

Pool A – Canada vs. Barbados

Canada took control of the match early on taking a 2-0 lead inside the opening 5 minutes. They kept their pressure up opening a 4-0 lead by the end of the 1^st quarter and 6-0 by halftime. Barbados fought hard, but were unable to threaten the Canadian goal, while conceding 3 more goals for a 9-0 deficit by the end of the 3^rd quarter. Canada continued their dominance into the 4^th quarter, but managed only one more goal against a Barbados team that kept working hard until the final buzzer. Canada topped  Pool A with the win. Final score 10-0 Canada.

Pool B – Japan vs. Trinidad & Tobago

The burning question for many of the fans in the stands: how many goals would Kenta Tanaka add to his tournament leading tally of five. His team got off to a good start, taking advantage of an unusually slow TTO to take a 1-0 after quarter 1. During the 2^nd quarter JPN added two more against an improved TTO team, Kenta getting one of them. TTO finally got some tempo into their game but there were no goals in the 3^rd quarter. TTO continued to push the Japanese back in the 4^th and scored a goal against the team with the best defensive record in the tournament so far. JPN kept their cool, adding 2 more to secure the win and first place in Pool B. Final score 5-1 Japan.

The results have set up the quarterfinal match ups as follows with Canada vs. Switzerland, Russia vs. Chile, Japan vs. Barbados and USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago.