Six time champions Argentina will face five time silver medallists USA in the final of the Pan American Games women’s hockey tournament, which is taking place in Guadalajara, Mexico. The winner of the Friday's meeting between the two giants of Pan American hockey will seal a place at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The bronze medal and classification matches will also take place on Friday.
Argentina continued their imperious form at the Pan Am Games by dishing out a 4-0 defeat to near neighbours Chile.
Rosario Luchetti fired home after just four minutes to give Las Leonas the lead, although resilient Chilean defending prevented the world champions from extending their advantage until the resistance was finally broken by a Soledad Garcia penalty corner.
Luciana Aymar and Delfina Merino scored impressive goals in the second half to ensure that Argentina remain on course for a seventh Pan American Games title in succession.
“It was a very difficult match,” said Chile coach Diego Amoroso after the game. "I think we reduced their spacing and passing lanes and so I am satisfied with the work we did on defence. At the same time, if you play a lot of the match without the ball, it is difficult to generate scoring opportunities to win the match."
The USA booked their place in the tournament final courtesy of a 4-2 win over Canada. Claire Laubach scored twice in the win, giving putting the USA into their sixth Pan Am Games final in seven tournaments.
“We knew we would get a very genuine contest from Canada today,” said USA head coach Lee Bodimeade. “I am very happy with the way our team played and in getting the result we wanted to put us in the final on Friday.”
USA has been beaten to the Gold medal on every occasion by Argentina, but the North Americans will be aiming to make it sixth time lucky in Guadalajara.
In other results, Mexico overcame Barbados 3-1 to set up a 5th-6th place play-off against Cuba, who defeated Trinidad and Tobago 2-1. Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago will contest the 7th – 8th place.
On Thursday, the men’s Semi Finals will take place, with Canada, Cuba, Argentina and Chile all battling for a place in Saturday’s tournament final.
The results for the tournament thus far can be found below. All official tournament information including detailed reports, results, tables, match sheets, scorers lists and photos can be found on the website of the Pan American Hockey Federation by clicking the following link: http://www.panamhockey.org/en/competitions
Source material - Field Hockey Canada Media Release.
Results
Wednesday 19th October 2011
09:00 Women's Group A Game 1 Argentina v Trinidad & Tobago 11-0 (6-0)
11:00 Women's Group A Game 2 Canada v Barbados 10-0 (6-0)
14:00 Women's Group B Game 3 United States v Mexico 5-0 (3-0)
16:00 Women's Group B Game 4 Chile v Cuba 6-0 (3-0)
Thursday 20th October 2011
09:00 Men’s Group A Game 1 Canada v Trinidad & Tobago 7-2 (4-2)
11:00 Men's Group A Game 2 Chile v Barbados 9-1 (4-0)
14:00 Men's Group B Game 3 Argentina v Mexico 8-0 (3-0)
16:00 Men's Group B Game 4 USA v Cuba 2-4 (1-1)
Friday 21st October 2011
09:00 Women's Group B Game 5 Mexico v Cuba 1-3 (0-2)
11:00 Women's Group B Game 6 Chile v USA 1-2 (2-4)
14:00 Women's Group A Game 7 Trinidan & Tobago v Barbados 2-4 (1-3)
16:00 Women's Group A Game 8 Canada v Argentina 3-7 (3-4)
Saturday 22nd October 2011
09:00 Men's Pool B Game 5 Mexico v Cuba 1-2 (0-0)
11:00 Men's Pool B Game 6 USA v Argentina 0-2 (0-1)
14:00 Men's Pool A Game 7 Trinidad & Tobago v Barbados 11-1 (5-1)
16:00 Men's Pool A Game 8 Chile v Canada 0-4 (0-1)
Sunday 23rd October 2011
09:00 Women's Pool A Game 9 Argentina v Barbados 19-0 (10-0)
11:00 Women's Pool A Game 10 Trinidad & Tobago v Canada 1-2 (1-0)
14:00 Women's Pool B Game 11 USA v Cuba 9-0 (6-0)
16:00 Women's Pool B Game 12 Mexico v Chile 0-1 (0-0)
Monday 24th October 2011
09:00 Men's Pool A Game 9 Canada v Barbados 10-0 (6-0)
11:00 Men's Pool A Game 10 Trinidad & Tobago v Chile 1-3 (0-1)
14:00 Men's Pool B Game 11 Argentina v Cuba 10-1 (4-1)
16:00 Men's Pool B Game 12 Mexico v USA 3-2 (3-2)
Fixtures
Wednesday 26th October 2011
09:00 Women's 5-8 Match 13 Barbados v Mexico 1-3 (1-0)
11:00 Women's Semi Final Match 14 Argentina v Chile 4-0 (2-0)
15:00 Women's Semi Final Match 15 USA v Canada 4-2 (2-1)
17:30 Women's 5-8 Match 15 Cuba v Trinidad & Tobago 2-1 (1-1)
Thursday 27th October 2011
09:00 Men's 5-8 Match 13 Trinidad & Tobago v USA
11:00 Men's Semi Final Match 14 Canada v Cuba
15:00 Men's Semi Final Match 15 Argentina v Chile
17:30 Men's 5-8 Match 15 Mexico v Barbados
Friday 28th October 2011
09:00 Women's 7-8 Match 17 Barbados v Trinidad & Tobago
11:30 Women's 5-6 Match 18 Mexico v Cuba
15:00 Women's 3-4 Match 19 Chile v Canada
17:30 Women's Final Match 20 Argentina v USA
Saturday 29th October 2011
09:00 Men's 7-8 Match 17
11:30 Men's 5-6 Match 18
15:00 Men's 3-4 Match 19
17:30 Men's Final Match 20
All times are local (GMT -5)
Hockey at Guadalajara 2011
Who: The Men and women of Argentina, USA, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago.
Where: The Pan American Hockey Stadium, Revolución Sports Complex, 3232 Pablo Neruda Avenue, Providencia Zone, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. (Capacity: 1870)
When: 19th - 29th October 2011
The Prize: The men’s and women’s Gold medalists will secure a place at the London 2012 Olympics.
The FIH website will be posting regular updates of the hockey action from Guadalajara. More information about the 2011 Pan American Games can be found at the official event website: www.guadalajara2011.org.mx
