Once again the Canadians fell short against the US national team in a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in extra time, and ending the chance for a medal at the Beijing games. Natasha Kai scored the game winning goal in the first half of extra-time, placing a header in the bottom right hand corner of Canadian keeper Karina LeBlanc.
LeBlanc was substituted in for injured goalkeeper Erin McLeod in the 19th min when she had hurt her knee on the first American goal. LeBlanc had to make several key stops including a beauty on Hucles in the 71st minute and another one in the dying seconds of regulation time.
The game was controlled by the US, who out shot the Canadians 38-8 and had 17 of their shots on goal. The US opened the scoring when Angela Hucles scored in the 12 minute with a beautiful header off a rebound let out by Erin McLeod. 8 minutes later the game was stopped for an hour and a half due to a lightning storm. However, when the game resumed the Canadians seemed to be sparked and captain Christine Sinclair blasted a strike past Hope Solo, notching the game up at 1-1. But that was all the Canadians could muster up as the game from there on was controlled by the US, who out possessed the Canadians 58%-42%.
On another Note Coach Even Pellerud has stepped down as head coach of the Women’s National team.
“It has been a wonderful nine years for me, my family and the program,” he said. “There has been development of the team and the program in Canada.
“I hoped my team would finish with a good performance and a win in my last game. We seemed to run out of gas early in the second half. We kept fighting and we created a war but we couldn’t play the good performances we have played before. They worked hard as they can. I have no problem with the results.”
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