PARIS, France – In their final match of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Paris, France, the No. 14 U.S. Olympic Women’s Field Hockey Team went out on top against No. 19 South Africa. USA tallied the lone goal late in the third to shutout their opponent and finish ninth at Paris 2024.
“South Africa are a really tough physical and gritty team who everyone in our pool has struggled against,” commented David Passmore, USWNT Head Coach, following the game. “They have attacked at pace and executed on corners so I’m pleased with the win. When we played with aggression, intensity and ball tempo we were excellent but needed to manage the game at times and execute better on our penalty corners.”
It was South Africa who started on the front foot, producing four circle entries in the first 5 minutes. USA absorbed the threats and didn’t allow an outcome, with one shot going far wide. The United Eagles produced three penalty corners in the first quarter but struggled to convert.
Two minutes into the second frame, USA produced a close chance when Ashley Hoffman (Mohnton, Pa.) received an overhead and fired it into the circle. Going off South Africa goalkeeper Anelle Lloyd’s pads, both Megan Valzonis (San Diego, Calif.) and Ashley Sessa (Schwenksville, Pa.) were on rebound but it was deflected away. Immediately down the other way, USA goalkeeper Kelsey Bing (Houston, Texas) was called to action to save a South Africa backhand. USA held control for majority of the remainder of the period but failed to generate any attack.
The first chance of the third quarter came midway through when Bing fended off back-to-back South Africa shots, first a forehand and then a low angled backhand. In the 41st minute, USA earned a penalty corner upgrade after Maddie Zimmer (Hershey, Pa.) received an overhead in the attacking-25 but wasn’t given five on the reception. Unable to make the most of the chance the United Eagles kept pushing and earned another set piece 4 minutes later. This time, Meredith Sholder (Fleetwood, Pa.) laid out off the right post to deflect in Beth Yeager’s (Greenwich, Conn.) drag and give USA the 1-0 lead.
Static play resumed in the final frame, and it took until there was 5 minutes left on the clock for South Africa to produce their first penalty corner. After the first chance was defended wide by Bing, they earned another, and USA collectively denied a scramble in the circle. With just under 3 minutes to go South Africa pulled their goalkeeper but the United Eagles held on for the shutout.
Today’s game ends the USA’s Paris 2024 campaign, as they were knocked out of the quarterfinal round following the results on Day 6. Fans can watch the rest of the men’s and women’s competitions live on NBC affiliate networks or stream it on Peacock.
For more information regarding Paris 2024, visit the event page.
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By USWNT
