Men’s National Team finishes pool-play off with a 7-2 Victory

Team Canada erupted for seven goals in this morning’s matchup with Korea, securing the win and third place in the pool. Coming off the back of two disappointing losses, Canada was poised for a much-needed breakout. With a multi-goal effort from Sean Davis and plenty of scoring to go around, Canada finished pool play with a bang this morning in Santiago.

It’s hard to think back that Korea opened the scoring in the 6th minute of play with a field goal from Chankyu Choi. Fortunately, within 60 seconds, Canada had pulled even. Captain Matt Sarmento got the Red Caribou on the board. From that moment on, it was truly all Canada.

Canada defeats Korea to cap off pool play in Santiago. Photos/Yan Huckendubler.

Rowan Childs and Robin Thind scored in the second quarter, as Canada seized control of the scoreboard and the possession game. It was Childs’ second of the tournament and Thind, the young goal-scoring dynamo from Surrey, got on the board for the first time this tournament.

Two second half goals from Sean Davis and some insurance markers from Thomson Harris (a beauty set piece PC deflection play), and Jude Nicholson were plenty enough for Canada to cruise to a dominant 7-2 victory over Korea. Davis, with his brace, was named player of the match today.

Canada finished third in their pool, lining up a matchup with the fourth-place finisher from pool A in the fifth-place semifinals. With Wales, Scotland, France and Chile all separated by three points, their evening matches will determine everything tonight. Canada’s matchup won’t be determined for a few hours yet.

For head coach Patrick Tshutshani and captain Matt Sarmento, this was a huge result coming off the back of a frustrating start to the tournament. Sarmento said it was good to see the team fill the net and celebrated the team’s young attacking core in a post game press conference.

“Obviously tough given what happened in the first two games, but it was a good bounce-back from the guys and we still have two games to play,” Sarmento said. “We have a young core coming through the ranks and they are putting the ball in the back of the net and having some big moments for us. The future looks bright for sure.”