Good start, rough finish for USA hockey

On April 23, 2012, in Field Hockey, by sportsdiplomacy

After beginning the second Four Nations tournament with a convincing win over India, the USA women’s field hockey team slumped to three successive defeats to close it out.

On Thursday, it was a hard-fought loss to hosts New Zealand. Rachel Dawson and Keli Smith-Puzo’s goals were not enough to earn the U.S. a point, as they lost 3-2 to the tournament’s top team. Still, they pushed the Black Sticks, who won the first Four Nations tournament, held earlier this month in Auckland.

On Saturday, the USA went down 5-1 to Australia, the eventual Four Nations’ champions, with Claire Laubach scoring the lone U.S. goal.

As it was in the earlier Four Nations’ tournament, the third-place game was contested between India and the United States. This time, however, it was the Indians who took the bronze, carving out a 1-0 win against the Americans. In the gold medal match, Australia knocked off New Zealand 3-1 for a bit of revenge.

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