Wake Forest Athletics
Team USA Advances to Field Hockey World Cup Semifinals
6/10/2014 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
June 10, 2014
Watch Live on ESPN3 | @USAFieldHockey
By Currie McFayden, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeHockey)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Lauren Crandall, Michelle Kasold and the rest of Team USA have advanced to the Rabobank Field Hockey World Cup Semifinals for the first time since 1994 after winning their pool in the competition.
Team USA is one of only three teams to finish pool play with an unblemished record, earning four victories and one draw against very tough opponents. The Americans defeated England, China, Germany and South Africa and earned the lone draw against Argentina.
Crandall notched a goal in the final match of pool play against South Africa on Tuesday, a score that made it 3-1 in favor of Team USA in the 45th minute. The squad would go on to win the match by a final score of 4-2.
"We hold ourselves to high expectations for the entire 70 minutes," Crandall, who serves as the team's captain, said. "When we begin falling short of those standards we look to each other to pick ourselves up. We didn't play to our potential the full match, but we were able to find that strength from the entire to team to deliver results."
Team USA will square off against Australia in the first semifinal on Thursday, set to begin at 10 a.m. ET, while Argentina will square off with the Netherlands at 1:45 p.m. ET. The winners will advance to the final on Sunday morning at 11:15 a.m.
This year's performance marks only the second time in the event's history that the United States has advanced past pool play. The best finish for the Americans came in 1994 when they placed third.
