Canada Bounces Back
It was not the match that we had hoped for but a third place in the C division was a one place improvement from 2006 and this is what the players had in mind this morning before their 10am game against Australia.
It did not really show how bad they wanted it though as their last game against Australia, played in front of about 150 spectators, was rather flat. Canada was not convincing at all, with many of their passes getting intercepted in the offensive zone and again showing their weakness in defense.
Following the disappointing loss against Slovakia yesterday, the Canadian players seemed to lack the team chemistry built during the last week but they still found the last bits of energy in them in the second half of the game to increase their lead against Australia and win the game. They had trouble against a team they easily beat 11-1 last week and while they had 51 shots on goal in their previous match-up, they only had 30 shots today against the same team. Sam Garrison was in the goal for Canada for the second time of the Championships stopping 23 of the 28 shots on goals from the Aussies.
Congratulations to Patrice Paré! With his 5 goals and 1 assist in today’s game, he received the player of the game honors.
Slovakia’s team won the C-division today against Spain, beating them rather easily 6-2 in front of 750 very enthusiastic fans. With today’s win, Canada is now ranked 23rd in the world in floorball behind Slovakia and Spain.
Here are the other awards of the championships:
Best forward: Patrick Ducharme, Canada
Best defender: Enrique Gomez, Spain
Best Goalkeeper: David Antic, Serbia
There will be no divisions at the 2010 Championships, but the final standing will affect the ranking of the teams when the ballot is made for the WFC Qualification groups.
____________
Here is where our journey ends this time around and gradually players will be heading back home during the night to catch their flight or will leave during the day tomorrow. The players still have one more night all together tonight at the team dinner to enjoy some time with each other and celebrate a well deserved 3rd place.
Well boys, it was a pleasure to spend the week with you, to spend more time with the ones I knew and to get to know new players and I, for one, can say that I am very proud of how you played this week and am proud to be your #1 fan! J
Go Canada!
FIRST PERIOD
Canada seemed rusty and unmotivated throughout the first period giving Australia good scoring opportunities but it was Stéphane Laporte who scored first to put Canada in the lead, assisted by Patrice Paré at 6:15 into the period. Canada was not as dominating as we had seen earlier during the week and the Quebec line was lucky no goals were scored on the couple of 3-on-1 the Aussies generated. To save the play on an offensive giveaway, Stéphane Laporte got the first penalty of the game for high stick at 15:50 giving Australia a 2 minute one man advantage. Australia blew its power play by also taking a penalty one minute into it for incorrect pushing. Both team played 4-on-4 for about one minute and Canada missed a few good scoring opportunities on their own power play but could not finish off the passes to score. The first period ended with Canada in the lead 1-0.
SECOND PERIOD
Canada had a lot of trouble still in the second period which allowed the Aussies to tie the game with less than 2 minutes played in the period. A few seconds later, Australia took a 2 minute penalty but unlike the previous match between the 2 teams where Canada scored 6 times on as many power plays, this was a completely different match and Canada was multiplying the mistakes and was not as efficient on the power plays.
After receiving a hit in the face not seen by the referees, Patrice Paré went on to score on a pass by Patric Ducharme, Canada was back in the lead 2-1. Australia took another penalty at 10:41 for hitting the stick and this time Canada took advantage of it with Lauri Hannelius increasing the lead by 2 goals at 11:45 on a pass by Philip Schuler. This goal seemed to have woken up Canada a little bit who added to their lead a few seconds later, at 12:16 into the period, when Ryan Andreotti scored the 4th goal for his team. Unfortunately less than 30 seconds later, Australia replied with a goal, it was 4-2.
On a jumping ball that got behind the Aussie goaltender, Lauri Hannelius scored for Canada on a pass by Erik Kaill but the Aussies once again replied right after with a quick goal, it was 5-3. With less than 2 minutes to play in the second period, Patrice Paré scored again on a pass by Patric Ducharme giving a 3 goal lead to Canada at 6-3, which is how the period ended.
THIRD PERIOD
Australia scored a 3:07 into the last period. Canada was still in the lead 6-4 but the Aussies were continuing to attack and taking advantage of the Canadian defensive mistakes. Both teams then had good chances of scoring but it was Patrice Paré who scored again on a pass by Simon Leblanc with a little less than 10 minutes to play in the game. It was 7-4 for Canada.
As it often has been the case, Canada did not take advantage of the momentum and allowed the Aussies to score a few moments later; we were back with a 2-goal lead at 7-5. Patrice Paré beat the goaltender for the fourth time of the game on a pass by Patric Ducharme and then Randy Sa’d increased to the Canadian lead a few seconds later at 12:56 on a pass by Seppo Lattu: it was now 9-5 for Canada. Canada was on a roll and following an Aussies’ defensive mistake, Patrice Paré scored yet again, his fifth of the game on a pass by Sascha Weber with less than 5 minutes to play in the game.
Eero Piilokivi took a penalty for Canada for incorrect hit at 16:23 giving a chance to Australia to get back in the game, which they once again blew by getting a penalty as well 15 seconds later, obliging both teams to play 4-on-4.
With less 30 seconds to play in the game, Canada took a penalty for having too many on the field but it was too little too late for Australia and Canada won the game, finishing in third place of the C division.
Final Score: Canada 10 – Australia 5
For the official game stats, please visit:
http://www.floorball.org/default.asp?sivu=5&alasivu=251&kieli=826
http://www.floorball.org/joukkuekortti.asp?joukkue_id=1203341711&sarjaId=20&dbSarja=1203340296
To watch the games live on Web TV, please visit:
http://www.robur.sk/floorball/schedule-sk.php
Sophie-Anne Ferland
