As she has done increasingly of late, Hawaiian-born Natasha Kai scored - and scored big - for the U.S. Women's Olympic Team, this time making the game-winning goal, eliminating Canada in the quarterfinals Friday night and booking the Americans - defending Olympic champions - a place in the final four...
A severe thunderstorm, which started around kickoff time in Shanghai, eventually caused a mid-match rain delay that lasted 100 minutes. The match had begun and USA scored the first goal within the first quarter of an hour, but rain, lightning and thunder seemed to envelope the stadium, so the delay was necessary for safety's sake.
When play did finally resume, Canada equalized in the 30th minute. With the score at 1-1 after regulation, and needing a winner in this first of the elimination rounds, two 15-minute extra time periods were added. In the 11th minute of overtime (101'), Kai scored off of an assist from Shannon Boxx. The USA came close to scoring another, but after 120 minutes of actual playing time - and the additional 1 hour and 40 minutes of rain delay, the 2-1 score was (finally) final, and what the USA needed to keep hope alive to successfully defend their Olympic title.
(Read stats, reports, and view great pics and video below...)
The USA's next opponent is Japan, a team they've already defeated in group play (by a score of 1-0). That semifinal takes place on Monday night with live U.S. coverage on MSNBC, Universal HD, NBC Olympic Soccer Channel, and streaming online for free at NBCOlympics.com. Live Match Tracker is another option, available at USSoccer.com
Kickoff time at Beijing Workers Stadium is 9 am EDT...
features on USA v CANADA,
Read the US Soccer.com Match Report here
NBCOlympics.com Report with video, "Flyin' Hawaiian Cuts Down Canada"
Comments