Austria 0, Azerbaijan 5

Azerbaijan took sole possession of first place in the round robin phase of the Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament after making easy work of Austria in a 5-0 win. Azerbaijan is the only team with three wins in three games after Japan had to settle for a draw against Chile.

Azerbaijan was very methodical in its approach to today’s game. There wasn’t much flash or flare, but they steadily wore down the Austrians and in the end were able to earn the convincing five-goal win. The game leaves Austria not only winless in its first three outings, but also scoreless as they have an 0-15 goal differential.

Azerbaijan took a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of regulation on the strength of goals from Yuliya Muradi and Farida Mammadova. Myungsoon Mammadova gave Azerbaijan a convincing 3-0 lead late in the first half when she flicked a penalty corner into the upper right corner.

Azerbaiajn continued to look strong in the second half and steadily built up its lead. Renata Matjusaitate and Taejeong Han each scored their first goal of the tournament to up the balance to 5-0. In total, Four of the five Azerbaijan makers were field goals, with Mammadova’s effort being the only penalty corner.

On Tuesday, the tournament will have its first major showdown as Azerbaijan will look to keep sole possession of the round robin lead in a key game against Japan. Meanwhile, Austria, which is out of contention to make it to London will look for its first win of the tournament against Belarus.