England target Germany win to reach quarters
England's women turned on the style against Canada in their
last pool match here at the World Championship.
Attacker Ailsa Stott led the way with a hat-trick, while Katy
Bennett, Felicity Hermsen and Emily Garvey all scored braces
as the national side raced into a 5-0 and never looked back.
Sarah Butt, playing her fifth World Championship, and Rachel
Kirchheimer were also on the scoresheet as England put Canada
under pressure early, unleashing 15 shots to their opponents
six in the first half.
That shot tally increased to 18-6 for England in the second
half as Canada struggled to fend off wave after wave of attack
from Lois Richardson's team as they galloped to an 11-6 victory.
"That was a great performance, we've improved and were
really up for the match," revealed Richardson afterwards.
"We've started the tournament nervously but the girls
proved how much they wanted to win tonight. We got into a
rhythm early and Canada never got back in the game."
Indeed, it took England just 1min 11secs to get on the scoresheet
through 22-year-old attacker Bennett. The 2001 World Cup ace
was cool under pressure to slot home, an attribute which won
her the MVP award at the end of the match.
"It's nice to have played well but anyone on the team
could have won the award after that performance. We were excellent,"
said a modest Bennett.
"It was nice to have a good team performance. We're a
young team and it's taken us a few games to settle and play
to the standard we all know we can.
"Canada are a very good side, but we were motivated to
win tonight and make sure we finished third in our pool."
England now meet Germany, a team they last played at the 2002
European Championships. The Germans made history earlier in
the day when they defeated the Czech Republic 9-6, their first
ever win over their opponents.
"I've not played Germany for about three years I think,
but some of the girls have played them more recently,"
added Bennett. "We're all looking forward to the game.
"It's nice to play someone you've not played for a while.
We could have played Scotland and we both know each other's
games inside out, so this is a new challenge for us.
"Germany will want to come out and make us work hard,
maybe rattle us, but we'll be ready for them."
Germany are coached by respected coaches Denise Wescott and
Amy McCleary, so Bennett and England know they will have to
be on their toes in their bid to progress to the quarter-finals.
"Denise and Amy are two very good coaches. We will have
respect for Germany, but want to beat them as well,"
said Bennett.
A view echoed by Richardson, who added: "Denise and Amy
have done a great job for the German team. We have a lot of
respect for them, but we'll be going out there to win and
produce another good performances.
"It's been pleasing to see the girls improve and show
a bit more desire. We really played as a team against Canada,
which is what I've been looking for from the start of the
Championship."
WOMEN, Lacrosse World Championship (Annapolis, Maryland):
England 11 Canada 6 (half scored 6-2, 5-4); Germany 9 Czech
Republic 6 (6-3, 3-3); Scotland 23 New Zealand 0 (half scores
13-0, 9-0; Australia 18 Wales 3 (11-3, 7-0); England 6 Wales
2 (half scores 2-1, 4-1); United States 7 Australia 7 (tie,
4-3, 3-4); Scotland 6 Japan 19 (2-13, 4-6); Germany 15 New
Zealand 1 (7-1, 8-0); England 4 Australia 15 (3-7, 1-8); Japan
26 New Zealand 1 (14-1, 12-0); United States 15 Canada 7 (5-2,
10-5); Scotland 14 Czech Republic 2 (7-1, 7-1); Australia
17 Canada 2 (9-0, 8-2); Wales 4 United States 11 (2-6, 2-5);
Czech Republic 21 New Zealand 6 (7-2, 14-4); Japan 17 Germany
2 (12, 5-2); England 5 United States 13 (3-9, 2-4); Scotland
19 Germany 3 (12-2, 7-1); Japan 12 Czech Republic 1 (3-1,
9-0); Wales 5 Canada 12 (3-4, 2-8).
TODAY, Fixtures, Play-off games - 10am:
United States v Czech Republic; 12.30pm: Australia v New Zealand;
3pm: England v Germany; 5.30pm: Canada v Scotland; 8pm: Wales
v Japan.
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