Japan defeat USA by 2-1 in the opening encounter of FIH Champions Challenge
I
The ESB Electric FIH Champions Challenge I, started at National Hockey Stadium, University College Dublin (UCD), in Dublin, Ireland, with a hard fighting victory to Japanese who defeated the USA women’s hockey team by 2-1 in the opening encounter of the
tournament, played today, on June 18.
Overall a tough game for both of the teams was witnessed, but Japanese women, who are ranked as one of the favourites in their group, held their nerves and provided them in shape of a victory, which was a morale booster for the rest of the tournament.
The game started with a lot of sensation, as from the start, the Japanese controlled the ball well and scored their first goal in the second minute of the first half when Ai Murakami converted a penalty-corner into a wonderful goal, thus put her team ahead
of USA by a goal.
The first half was full of great action as just six minutes after conceding the goal, the USA team delivered in the ninth minute of the first half, when Katie O’Donnell, the most seasoned and reliable striker of the USA team, scored a thriller for USA and
levelled the score.
Both the teams continued their game with the similar pace, making circle penetrations in their opponent’s circle on a number of occasions, but no further goal was scored till the interval and both of the teams head towards the break at score 1-1.
Japanese showed their intensions very clear and started the second half even more aggressively as compared to the first one. They came across two scoring opportunities, but the USA’s defenders showed great tackle skills and did not allow them to make any
further damage. But the Japanese were unstoppable as they continued to put pressure on USA defence line and eventually succeeded in 45th minute when Rika Komazawa scored the decider of the match for the Japanese. However, USA team also had their
chances, but the Japanese defence-line stood side by side to their striking line and USA could not score further. The match concluded at 2-1 to Japan.
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