Kauffman-Beach, Smith, Rizzo and the U.S. National Field Hockey Team advance to Gold Medal Game of the Pan Am Games
8/11/2003 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 11, 2003
Check out the story on usfieldhockey.com.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic - Former Maryland field hockey All-Americans Katie Kauffman-Beach (Maryland '97), Keli Smith (Maryland '01) and Dina Rizzo (Maryland '02) and the U.S. Field Hockey National Team secured its spot in the Pan American Games gold medal match with a 6-1 victory over Chile.
"This is exactly what we wanted," said U.S. head coach Beth Anders. "We wanted a shot and now we've got our shot."
In addition to the Pan Am gold medal, the U.S. will be playing for the automatic berth in the 2004 Olympic Games that goes to the tournament winner as the continental champion. The U.S. will face the winner of the Argentina/Uruguay match in the medal final on August 13 in Santo Domingo, Domincan Republic.
"We weren't focusing on the final, we were just focusing on each game," said former Terp and U.S. captain Katie Beach-Kauffman. "We just came out tonight to beat Chile and now we can start talking about the final. And that's fun to talk about."
Jill Reeve (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) connected on a penalty corner in the 18th minute to give the U.S. a 1-0 halftime lead after the U.S. controlled much of the action during the first period.
With the U.S. hanging on to a narrow lead, 10 minutes into the second half, Abbey Woolley (Ocean City, N.J.) began the second-half barrage of goals when she scooped in a loose ball in front of the net to give her team a 2-0 advantage.
Moments later, Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) snuffed a Chile penalty corner attempt and started the counter attach with a quick pass to midfielder Tracey Fuchs (Centereach, N.Y.). Fuchs raced the ball down the field before passing to a diving Kelly Gannon (Escondido, Calif.) who nudged the ball past the onrushing keeper Carolina Pinto and into the cage for a 3-1 U.S. lead.
The Stars and Stripes continued to pour it on, adding three more goals in an eight minute span to clinch the victory and send the team to the gold medal game.
Kauffman-Beach, Smith and Rizzo were all starters in the contest.
For more information on the U.S. National Field Hockey team and the Pan Am games, visit www.usfieldhockey.com.
USA 6, Chile 1 USA: Jill Reeve (pc, 18:00) USA: Abbey Woolley (fg, 43:00) USA: Kelli Gannon (fg, 56:00) USA: Kristen McCann (fg, 60:00) USA: Kate Barber (fg, 67:00) CHI: Daniela Infante (fg, 70:00)
United States Starters: Peggy Storrar (GK), Tara Jelley, Tracey Larson, Kelli Gannon, Tracey Fuchs, Katie Beach, Keli Smith, Jill Reeve, Carrie Lingo, Kate Barber, Dina Rizzo
Reserves: Kristen McCann, Robyn Kenney, Abbey Woolley, Jessica Coleman, Amy Tran (GK)
Chile
Starters: Carolina Pinto (GK), Andrea Sanchez, Paula Infante, Paula MacKenzie, Michelle Wilson, Daniela Infante, Javiera Villagra, Andrea Mateluna, Carolina Vargas, Sandra Wenz, Carolina Garcia
Reserves: Veronica Walbaum, Jessie Rojas, Carolina Abertz, Valentina Martin
Cards: CHI: Paula Infante (G, 52:00); USA: Jill Reeve (G, 38:00), Jessica Coleman (G, 52:00)
Umpires: Alicia Takeda (MEX), Ann van Dyk (CAN)
