Canada suffered a heartbreaking loss Monday in consolation play at the women’s field hockey World Cup, conceding a late goal to India and then losing the ensuing penalty shootout 3-2 after the game finished 1-1 in regulation time.
Both teams came to the match looking for their first win of the competition in Terrassa, Spain.
The 14th-ranked Canadian women moved into consolation placement play after going 0-3-0 in Pool C, losing 4-1 to No. 5 Spain, 3-2 to No. 13 South Korea and 7-1 to No. 2 Argentina.
No. 9 India finished third in Pool B at 0-1-2, playing No. 4 England and No. 11 China to 1-1 draws before losing 4-3 to No. 8 New Zealand.
Victoria’s Maddie Secco, on a feed from Kathleen Leahy, opened the scoring via a penalty corner in the 10th minute, only to see Salima Tete tie the game in the 57th minute by knocking home a rebound off Gurjit Kaur’s penalty corner.
Canada led 2-0 in the shootout on goals by Amanda Woodcroft of Waterloo, Ont., and Natalie Sourisseau of Kelowna, B.C., but India pulled even at 2-2. After 14 attempts by the two teams, Neha Goyal gave India the win.
‘We played to our strengths’
“It was probably our best game to date in the tournament,” said Secco. “We played to our strengths. We are obviously so disappointed but I’m also very proud of [Ottawa goalkeeper Rowan Harris] to save so many shootouts.”
India will now face No. 10 Japan in the ninth-to-12th-place playoffs. Canada has a rematch Wednesday with South Korea in the 13th-to-16th-place matches.
Canada is making its first appearance at the World Cup since finishing 10th in 1994, which marked the last of six straight appearances at the tournament. Canada’s best showing was a silver medal in 1983, with a bronze in 1986.
The Canadian women missed out on the previous six World Cups.
The 16-team World Cup runs through July 18 in Amsterdam and Terrassa.
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