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TEAM CANADA:

HOOPER SCORES 2 IN 3-1 DEFEAT OF NETHERLANDS

March 4, 2006

On a sunny but cool and windy afternoon in Victoria, BC, Canada’s Women’s National Team scored two goals by Charmaine Hooper to eventually defeat the Netherlands 3 - 1.

The Canadians came out fired up in the first half with the wind at their backs. It did not take long for the three-pronged attack of Christine Sinclair, Charmaine Hooper and Rhian Wilkinson to test Marleen Wissink in the Dutch goal. Seconds into the contest, Wissink was forced to kick out a Sophie Schmidt shot from inside the area that seemed destined for the back of the net, but the Dutch keeper made the save.

However, a few minutes later, the Canadians scored their first of the evening when a failed clearance was kicked back in to the Dutch penalty area. As Rhian Wilkinson trapped the ball it slipped nehind her, and Charmaine Hooper converted the opportunity, side-footing her shot past a helpless Wissink for her 66th goal for Canada. Despite the continued Canadian pressure and a series of corner kicks taken by Rhian Wilkinson that continued to look threatening, it was the Dutch who scored next.

Gilanne Louwars made a good run down the right wing and when a poor Canadian clearance rebounded to her, she crossed a good pass across the face of the Canadian goal that eluded every Canadian defender and found an unmarked Shirley Smith at the back post. Smith took the chance on her first touch and slammed it past Erin McLeod who had no chance on the goal.

Only two minutes later, the Canadians got back on track. A Rhian Wilkinson corner found Andrea Neil at the top of the area. Neil nodded her effort toward goal and an opportunistic Hooper flicked another header past Wissink for her second goal in just under 10 minutes

After this high-paced opening, both teams seemed to settle down, although Canada continued their territorial advantage and exerted all the pressure. The hard bumpy pitch and a freshening wind made control difficult. The Dutch were typical in their buildup, but were forced backwards more often than not through a combination of wind and tenacious Canadian pressure. But even when the Netherlands managed to keep possession, they seemed to lack the creative guile to open up and threaten the Canadian defense.

The two teams returned from the break far tighter at the back, with the Canadians now playing into a wind that was now strong. However, the Canadians managed to maintain their pressure. It took just over twenty minutes of play in the second half before the Canadians had a real sight of goal when Hooper found herself on the penalty spot with only the Dutch keeper to beat but the striker was hurried and stabbed her shot wide of the right post. Then, with just under twenty minutes to play, a long driven free-kick off the boot of second half substitute Brittany Timko sailed over the top of the Dutch defense, aimed toward the run of Sophie Schmidt who had ghosted in behind her defender near the right corner of the six yard box. The Abbotsford-native angled her header to perfection, skipping the ball past Wissink and into the side netting, stretching Canada’s lead to two and virtually eliminating any hope of a Dutch comeback

Minutes later, Kara Lang came close when her powerful free-kick from the top of the box whistled just past the upper right corner with Wissink rooted on her line. The Canadians killed off the remainder of the match and walked off deserved winners.

“We played another solid game; maybe more solid than spectacular,” said Head Coach Even Pellerud following the victory. “It was a very similar game to the match on Wednesday (in Vancouver), when we managed once again to put a lot of pressure on the Dutch team and could have scored more than we did. Perhaps we were more lively this afternoon and a bit more skillful but the game was also hindered somewhat by a very strong wind. Overall the goal chances were exactly the same as our last game (10-1), which is quite remarkable, but in the end we won two matches against a Dutch team that perhaps was expecting to perform a bit better than they did.”

Goals: CANADA – Hooper 4, 10; Schmidt 71; HOLLAND – Smith 8

CANADA: 22-McLeod, Erin; 2-Latham, Christine; 3-Schmidt, Sophie; 5-Neil, Andrea (17-Timko, Brittany, 61); 8-Matheson, Diana; 9-Franko, Martina; 10-Hooper, Charmaine; 11-Hermus, Randee (4-Andrews, Sasha, 75); 12-Sinclair, Christine (16-Thorlakson, Katie, 78); 13-Walsh, Amy (15-Kara Lang, 65); 14-Wilkinson, Rhian (7-Morneau, Isabelle, 85)

Based on CSA Report.