Tsawwassen youngsters part of Canadian field hockey wins
A pair of standout junior field hockey players from Tsawwassen helped Canada's mens and women's teams take a step closer to the Jr. World Cup next year in India.
Andrew Kanverva (below), 18, and Sara McManus, 19, were in action at the Pan American Junior Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico where both of Canada's teams qualified for the semi finals.
Canada’s Men finished first in their pool after a solid 3-1 victory over Mexico on Friday afternoon (Sept. 14).
After taking an early 1-0 lead off a penalty corner by Vancouver's Sam Jones, Canada battled for possession the remainder of the first half.
The men came out strong in the second half, dominating possession to claim the victory.
“The team performed well,” said head coach Mathias Ahrens in a press release. “They played well under pressure and did what they had to do. We are very happy to move into the semi-finals and take on step closer to our goal of qualifying for the Junior World Cup.”
The Junior Men will take on Trinidad and Tobago tomorrow morning (Sept 18) followed by a match against Chile on Wednesday in Guadalajara.
The Junior Women had quite a different road to the semi-finals. After a disappointing 6-0 loss to Argentina on Friday evening Canada’s women came back with a solid performance in yesterday’s crucial match against Mexico. Fans were out in full-force, adding to the intensity.
Seventeen minutes into the match Vancouver's Caashia Karringten scored the lone goal of the competitive first half. Canada entered the second half fired up and hungry for the win. In the final 25 minutes the decision to pull their goalkeeper was rewarded as Canada staged a full-out offensive attack. Within 10 minutes, Karringten converted on three penalty corners and Jessica Buttinger from Waterloo, Ontario scored a field goal to bring the score up to 5-0.
The decisive victory secured Canada’s place in the semi-finals, surpassing Uruguay to finish second in Pool A.
“It was a great effort,” said Karringten in a press release following the game. “We had a game plan and we followed it. We’re proud of what we accomplished today.”
The Canadian women will face the first place team in Pool B, most likely Chile, on Wednesday.
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