Women’s match: The first half saw both teams struggle to score and Canada led 9-8 at the break. In the 2nd half Team Canada pulled away from the U.S. to finish with a 23-18 victory.
Men’s match: The U.S. and Canada traded goals early on and the U.S. pulled away for an 11-9 lead. In the 2nd half outstanding team defense and goalie play by veteran Danny Caparelli led to several fast breaks and an 8 goal, 19-11 lead. Team Canada, however, switched to a marking defense on Gary Hines and the U.S. struggled to score in a set offense. In the end Canada was able to methodically whittle down the lead to an eventual 25-21 victory.
The same teams will play each other again in Montreal on Thursday. In order to advance the USA women will have the difficult task of beating the Canadian women by 6 goals (or 5 goals if they can score 24 or more). The USA men have the more manageable prospect of winning, drawing or losing to the Canadian by less than 4 goals (or 4 goals if they score 22 or more).