Russia 0, Belgium 4:
Belgium earned its second win in as many games at the FIH Champions Challenge 2 after shutting out Russia, 4-0.
It was a battle between the 17th and 18th-ranked teams, but Russia was a far cry from their 18th position with the lopsided result. To be fair, the game was wide open until the 60th minute when Belgium put in three goals, including a penalty corner in the last minute of action, to pull out the victory. Until the surge, Belgium held a slim 1-0 advantage after Anouk Raes scored in the 23rd minute.
It looked like Russia simply ran out of gas in the last 10 minutes of action, conceding its second defeat of the event. That Russia is 0-2 is somewhat of a surprise given the fact that they came to Vienna as the third-seeded team in the eight-team field. Meanwhile, second-seeded Belgium is living up to all expectations.
Malaysia 4, Belarus 5:
Belarus continued to produce the most exciting and high-scoring games of this year's Champions Challenge, earning a 5-4 win against Malaysia.
Much like its 4-3 win against Russia yesterday, it was another fight to the finish for Belarus, which survived the see-saw battle. Malaysia took the early 2-0 lead in the first 16 minutes, but Belarus countered with a trio of goals coming in a four-minute span to take a 3-2 lead. Yuliya Mikheichyk scored twice in the flurry and ended the game with three goals. Malaysia tied the game at three just before the break with a penalty corner.
Belarus took control in the second half, putting in two straight goals before the 51st minute to take it most commanding lead at 5-3. But once again, Malaysia had an answer with yet another penalty corner to pull to within one with six minutes remaining. Much like Russia, Malaysia's comeback bid ultimately ran out of time as Belarus hung on for its second win.
Malaysia is winless in its first two games.
Canada 1, Chile 0:
Canada went from playing the lowest-seeded team at the Champions Challenge 2 yesterday to facing the top-seeded team today. It seems the opponent made little difference to the Canadians as the earned their second consecutive one-goal victory.
Kate Gillis was the Canadian hero, scoring the only goal of the game three minutes into the second half. It was a tight game throughout, but Canada clung to the slim lead and staved off the Chile offense as Azelia Liu earned the shutout in net.
19th-ranked Canada is now perfect in its first two games while #16 Chile has a win and a loss to their credit.
Italy 4, Austria 1:
Italy claimed its first win of this year's Champions Challenge 2 with a 4-1 win over host Austria. The loss left Austria still looking for its first win of the event.
It was clear after the first half that Italy was the superior team. They held a 3-0 advantage after just 22 minutes of action. Two of the early Italian goals came on penalty corners. Alexandera Sandner got Austria on the board before the break, to make it a 3-1 affair at the half.
With the game well in hand, Italy's offense slowed in the second half, putting in just one goal, coming with six minutes left, once again on a penalty corner. The goal was the last of the scoring for both sides as Italy cruised to the 4-1 win.
Tomorrow is a day off for all teams and will be followed by the last day of preliminary round action on Tuesday.
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