South Africa 6, Czech Republic 2

Top-seeded South Africa stayed unbeaten at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Kakmigahara, Japan after earning a 6-2 win against the Czech Republic. Justin Reid-Ross continued to be the South African scoring machine, this time scoring twice in the victory.

It was a game of spurts for the South Africans, who were only able to solve the stoic Czech defense in for a few minutes at a time, but nevertheless those quick surges were enough to power the South Africans through to their second victory.

Early on, it looked like South Africa would walk all over the Czechs with two goals in the first five minutes. Reid-Ross picked up right where he left off against Brazil, firing in an early penalty corner for the 1-0 lead. Timothy Drummond double the lead a few minutes later with a sprawling effort. But a defensive lapse by South Africa gave the Czechs a window to march downfield and put in the 2-1 marker.

That goal stalled the South African offense, which spent the next 20 minutes fruitlessly trying to find a way past the Czech defense. In the last five minutes of the half, Lloyd Norris Jones and Lance Louw put in rapid fire goals to give the South Africans a convincing 4-1 lead at the break.

The Czechs had a strong start to the second half and once again frustrated the South African offense, The defensive stand allowed the Czechs to climb back into the game when Stepan Bertanek scooped up a rebound to make it a two-goal game early in the second half. But with the focus on defense, the Czechs couldn’t make up the lead that South Africa built in the first half. Reid-Ross put in a goal midway through the half and Thornton McDade scored in the last minute to bring the final to 6-2.