Aug. 11, 2003
* Story and photo courtesy of U.S. Field Hockey
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - The U.S. Field Hockey women's team secured its spot in the Pan American Games gold medal match with a 6-1 win over Chile in the first of the two semifinals at the Parque del Este.
"This is exactly what we wanted," said U.S. head coach Beth Anders. "We wanted a shot and now we've got our shot."
In addition to the Pan Am gold medal, the U.S. will play for the automatic berth in the 2004 Olympic Games that goes to the tournament winner as the continental champion. The U.S. will face the winner of the Argentina/Uruguay game in the gold medal final at 17:30, August 13
"We weren't focusing on the final, we were just focusing on each game," said U.S. captain Katie Beach. "We just came out tonight to beat Chile, and now we can start talking about the final. And that's fun to talk about."
After controlling much of the action in the first half, the U.S. finally got on the scoreboard when ODU alum Jill Reeve (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) connected on a penalty corner goal in the 18th minute to give the U.S. a 1-0 halftime lead.
With the USA hanging on to its narrow lead ten minutes into the second half, Abbey Woolley (Ocean City, N.J.) began a second half barrage of goals at the 43-minute mark when she scooped in a loose ball in front of the net to increase her team's lead to 2-0.
"I was holding the opposite side post and T.J. (teammate Tara Jelley) called me to go to the center," said Woolley on the first of her two goals in the game. "Tikki (teammate Kate Barber) and T.J. passed it and I just flicked it in. It was like slow motion. I was really excited."
The U.S. scored one of its prettiest goals moments later when Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) snuffed a Chile penalty corner attempt and started the counter attack with a quick pass to midfielder Tracey Fuchs (Centereach, N.Y.). Fuchs raced the ball down the field before passing to a diving Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif.) who nudged the ball past onrushing keeper Carolina Pinto and into the cage for a 3-1 USA lead
The U.S. continued its scoring spree as Kristen McCann (Allentown, Pa.), Woolley and Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.) added goals in an 8-minute span to clinch the victory and send the team to the gold medal game.
Chile became the first Pan Am team other than Argentina to score a goal against the U.S. in the tournament since 1991, when Daniela Infante connected on a shot past reserve keeper Amy Tran (Grantville, Pa.) in the final seconds of play.
"It's amazing," said Woolley anticipating Wednesday's championship game. "It's 70 minutes, one game away from the Olympics. I'm really excited."
USA 6, Chile 1USA: Jill Reeve (pc, 18:00)USA: Abbey Woolley (fg, 43:00)USA: Kelli Gannon (fg, 56:00)USA: Kristen McCann (fg, 60:00)USA: Kate Barber (fg, 67:00)CHI: (Daniela Infante (fg, 70:00)
United States
Starters:, Peggy Storrar (GK), Tara Jelley, Tracey Larson, Kelli Gannon, Tracey Fuchs, Katie Beach, Keli Smith, Jill Reeve, Carrie Lingo, Kate Barber, Dina Rizzo
Reserves: Kristen McCann , Robyn Kenney, Abbey Woolley, Jessica Coleman, Amy Tran (GK)
Chile
Starters: Carolina Pinto (GK), Andrea Sanchez, Paula Infante, Paula MacKenzie, Michelle Wilson, Daniela Infante, Javiera Villagra, Andrea Mateluna, Carolina Varas, Sandra Wenz, Carolina Garcia
Reserves: Veronica Walbaum, Jessie Rojas, Carolina Abertz, Valentina Martin
Cards: CHI: Paula Infante (G, 52:00); USA: Jill Reeve (G, 38:00), Jessica Coleman (G, 52:00)
Umpires: Alicia Takeda (MEX), Ann van Dyk (CAN)