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U.S. Women Finish Fifth in Field Hockey
The Associated Press
July 30, 1996 9:45 p.m. EDT
ATLANTA (AP) -- The U.S. women's field hockey team rediscovered its offense two games too late.
Outscored 5-1 in their last two outings and eliminated from medal contention, the Americans used goals by Marcia Pankrantz and Liz Tchou to defeat Spain 2-0 Tuesday and take fifth place.
It was a disappointing finish for a team that had expected to earn the first U.S. hockey medal since the women's bronze in 1984, but instead turned out to be the first host nation to fail to medal in the women's tournament.
``Our performances have been sub-par in a couple of games,'' coach Pam Hixon said. ``Tonight we showed people what we are capable of doing.''
The victory clinched one thing for the U.S. team (2-3-2) -- a spot in next year's Champions Trophy tournament, limited to the top six teams in the world.
And the U.S. players, led by captain Barb Marois, celebrated after the game, tossing team towels into the packed grandstands at Morris Brown College.
``Leaving the team will be an adjustment for us all,'' said Marois, who ended a career with more than 150 international matches. ``I'll remember the opening ceremonies from these games, but more importantly are the memories of the year we spent together leading up to the games.''
Pankrantz, from San Diego, opened the scoring at 17:07 with a rebound of a missed shot by Cindy Werley, and Tchou added an insurance goal at 47:37 on a sliding shot off an interception.
Those were the fist U.S. scores since a 1-1 tie with Germany last Friday.
Chang Eun-Jung's goal late in the first half Tuesday earned South Korea a spot in the gold medal match.
The penalty corner goal by Jung 4:03 before halftime accounted for the only scoring as South Korea beat Germany 1-0.
It was the only one of 14 scoring opportunities that the South Koreans, 4-1-2 in the preliminary round, were able to convert. It was all they needed.
In another game Tuesday morning, Jane Sixsmith scored three goals and Mandy Nicholls added two as Britain (3-2-2) warmed up for the bronze medal match with a 5-0 victory over Argentina. Three of the goals came in the final six minutes.
Britain will play the Netherlands in the bronze medal match Thursday. That will be followed by the gold medal match between South Korea and Australia.