Third Place Game: Spain 5, Russia 1

Spain earned a bit of redemption from an otherwise disappointing Road to London Tournament with a 5-1 win against Russia in the third-place game. Spain entered the tournament as the top seed, ranked 11^th in the FIH World Ranking, while Russia’s fourth-place finish is on par with their initial seeding at the event.

Spain dominated the entire game, but much like throughout the rest of the tournament, they could not finish on many of their chances. It took until the 29^th minute of the first half for Gloria Comerma to put in the 1-0 goal on a penalty corner. Spain’s Julia Menendez made it 2-0 three minutes before the half, but the damage should have been much worse as Spain had at least 15 solid scoring chances.

Spain again took its time adding to tally in the second half, adding the 3-0 goal with about 19 minutes left in regulation after a video review confirmed that Carlota Petchame’s deflected goal was allowed. The teams exchanged rapid fire goals with Ksenia Shamina putting in the lone Russian marker of the game to make it a 4-1 game. Beatriz Perez from Spain put in a late goal to bring the final to 5-1.