A Fine Run

     Today in London, the Canadian Women's Goalballteam ended their run in competition with a difficult, hard-fought loss to Finland, 2-1. 

     Those are the facts.

     Now:

     Congratulations and thanks so much to all of you for providing us with excitement, hope, fun, and for keeping our hearts pumping fast each time you played.  You may be far away, but we were there with you, in sprrit, all the way from Africa to Buffalo....right back to London.

     Thanks, Whitney Bogart, for your goal today, well played.

     Thanks, Amy Kneebone, for scoring multiple times, very well done.

    Thanks, Nancy Morin, for being a great teammate, and fine play in all these games.

    Thanks, Ashlie Andrews, for your efforts.  We are proud of you.

    Thanks, Jill MacSween you represent tea and country so well.

    Thanks, Cassie Orgeles you train and play with true heart and courage.  And, selfishly, for me, I get to say, "I know an Olympian!"  Can't wait to buy you some dim sum!

     Thanks coaches and attendants for your hours and hard work to bring this team so far.

      No head-hanging.  No sadness.  Be proud, you've certainly made us proud to know you.

      Well done, ladies.

The Quarters

   The quarterfinals in Women's Goalball begin tomorrow, and the game you are interested in is at 9:15 EST, and Canada's opponent is Finland, for Group C.  In their Group, Finland tied Great Britain, beat Denmark and Lost to Brazil, but scored four goals in the process.  It is lose and go home time now, so all the best of luck to the girls from Canada.

Moving On

    The cross-border contest has gone to Canada!  More stout defense by the girls netted a 1-0 victory at Copper Box on Tuesday.  Nancy Morin scored the only goal of the match, Canada has now gone two complete games, plus, without allowing their apponents a single score.  They finish at the top of Group D in pool play, and now move on to the Quarterfinals, when this Olympic tournament turns into a on-and-done format.  At this point, lose, and you go home.  On the other hand, win, and you're in the Final Four!

    The quarterfinal oponents are not yet announced, we'll post the matchups here when we know.

Great D!

    Yesterday at Copper Box, the Canadian Women's Goalball team took a big step forward by beating Japan 1-0.  Throwing a shutout in Goalball isn't entirely rare at this level, it happens, but given that Japan had scored 5 goals in their previous two games, shutting them out must be quite an accomplishment.

    So, the good news is that Canada sits at 2-1 with one game left in pool D play, the bad news is that the remaining game is today against the United States, who also have a 2-1 record and have scored 9 goals.  A win against the United States would guarantee a place in the medal round.  A loss would not necessarily mean they would not make it - but they would need help  The game is at 8:45AM, EST, Tuesday.

Kangaroo Who?

   great news from London today, the Canadian women's team has defeated Australia by a sore of 3-1.  Canada's Amy Kneebone scored twice to power the effort.  after the game one loss to Sweden, the women came out strong against Australia and played inspired defense, allowing only one goal
.  The woman continue play tommorow, the 3rd, at 2:45 EST, in a pivotal match against Japan.  you can see Cassie in training on You Tube on theparalympics channel.  There are videos of the  games from London on You Tube, but I have yet to find the CNadian women's matches.  If I dig them up, I will post a link.

Openers

   Saturday in London was not a good day for the Canadian women's Goalball team.   The women fell to Sweden in their opening group match, 2-1.  This tightly fought match showed just how difficult things will be for the defending World Champions.  All is not lost, however, this is only the beginning of pool play.  While the loss is not the best possible result, there are enough games remaining for Team Canada to score points to move on to the medal round.  Righting the ship quickly is important, though.  The opportunity to do just that comes Sunday, against Australia.  The match begins at 5:15 EST.  Let's Go, Girls!