USA field hockey finds its footing at Olympics, thanks to several Triangle contributors

With the U.S. field hockey team needing to quickly recover from an Olympic-opening loss, former North Carolina player Ashley Hoffman’s smart defensive play helped the Americans find a better outcome Monday.

Hoffman’s swatting away of a would-be goal for Spain led to her team’s lone goal at the other end and, despite later having seeing a goal overturned, the U.S. tied Spain, 1-1, in the second game of Olympic pool play.

After falling 4-1 to Argentina on Saturday, Hoffman and Team USA liked the progress. But the group remains unsatisfied.

“I’m super happy with the one point,” said Hoffman, Team USA’s captain. “....Every game we come out trying to win and that’s the most important game. So this game is in our pocket and we are focused forward.”

Team USA was locked in before the game even started - all taking pride in wearing the red, white, and blue as they sang the National Anthem together. The game was high paced the start, with the fans as into it as the athletes were, with constant back and forth chants shouting USA and Spain.

With one minute to play in the first quarter, Spain was awarded a set piece but Hoffman made sure the shot didn’t cross the line. Her defensive play ignited a rush for the U.S. going the other direction, where Phia Gladieux scored to put the U.S. up, 1-0.

To start the second quarter, Spain made Team USA have to match their speed of play and, after missing their third consecutive penalty corner, Begona Garcia received the deflection and made Team USA pay, nailing the ball in the lower left corner of the goal.

USA had their first penalty corner in the 24th minute but after the ball hit off a Spain player’s glove they had a second chance to regain the lead but were denied by goalkeeper Clara Perez. What looked like a goal was stripped away because it was confirmed after video review that the ball hit off of a foot of one of the United States players.

Team USA’s defense kept their eyes on the prize. Bing showed up and showed out, blocking three consecutive shot attempts within the span of 10 seconds to keep the game tied up at one a piece at halftime.

“My mindset was just to be more present today and to trust my teammates to do their role and for me to do my own role and so as long as I was present in those moments, I knew we could back ourselves,” Bing said.

The second half started similar to the first half - lots of back and forth between the two countries. Team USA’s defense stood up like a brick wall, blocking six consecutive penalty corners within a span of seconds for Spain in the middle of the third quarter.

“Kelsey Bing played unreal so I’m really proud of her,” 2022 UNC graduate and U.S. forward Meredith Sholder said. “She really came out really hard and strong today.”

After lots of contested balls, none made it into the goal, keeping the game all tied up after 45 minutes of game play. Spain didn’t take the pedal off the metal offensively, demanding constant attention from Bing but she didn’t hesitate nonetheless, blocking goal attempt after goal attempt.

The back and forth battle continued all the way until the whistle blew for the final time with the game finishing in a hard fought tie. Spain fired 12 shots on the U.S. goal, compared to the U.S. having only five shots.

So the U.S. team felt good about how its defensive play can lead to tallying enough points in the remaining pool play games to advance.

“I think it’s fantastic momentum,” Bing said. “We can definitely build off of this performance and continue to earn some points as this tournament progresses and I’m just proud of the result for our team.”

Team USA will face off against Australia at 7:15 a.m. on Wednesday from Colombes, France, for their third of five pool play games. The E! Network will televise.

Monday’s game also marked a milestone for former Duke player Leah Crouse, who played in her 50th international match for Team USA.

Anna Laible is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris. She hosts the Speak Up Sports Podcast. Follow her journey covering her first Olympics on her Instagram (@anna_laible).