US defeats Canada for women’s worlds three-peat

Photo credit: Geoff White (gw-images)

By Ameeta Vohra

The United States are the 2017 IFAF Women’s World Championship gold medalists for the third-straight tournament. On Friday night, June 30, the US defeated host Canada 41 -16.

Towards the last few minutes of the second half, Canada took advantage of the States going through a weak moment and tried to get within reach of their opponents.  Aimee Kowalski connected with her sister for a long touchdown.  Then, Canada recovered a fumble.

“Canada did a good job,” commented States Head Coach Jim Farrell.  “They jumped on us when we made mistakes and that happened multiple times.”

“The muffed punt and obviously at the end of the half, not understanding down and distance with 19 seconds left (in the half) and eyes in the backfield. They’re a good team and every time that we were undisciplined or we got out alignment assignment football, they took advantage of it.”

On the other side, Canada wasn’t able to seize their momentum shift because of the States’ frequent ability to handle pressure filled situations.

“They’re a very balanced team so depending on what kind of situations we’re in defensively, they can run the ball and they can throw the ball,” said Canada Head Coach Jeff Yausie.  “They came out fired up in the second half after we finished off the first half with a big play and ran the ball down the field.”

“That’s the sign of a good team and a well-coached team – they took what we were giving them.”

While it was not the result they wanted, Canada took the positives out of the gold medal game.

“It’s disappointing to lose any football game. I’m very happy with our players and how hard they played,” added Yausie.  “The US is a formidable opponent and we knew we’d have our hands full.”

“We were happy to make a few plays… we made a couple of turnovers and were able to score a few points which has been rare in the past against the US. I’m just really proud of our team and how hard we fought in the game. Like I said (the US) is talented and they’re deep. Any team that plays them has their hands full.”

Farrell said that based on past experience and what he saw on the gold medal game on the eve of Canada Day, the host nation’s future looks bright.

“Canada is on the rise and they’re a great program and very well coached,” he assessed.  “Their players gave us everything that we could handle.”

“A very good team effort by Team Canada.”

Impressed by the overall competition level he witnessed by all the competing nations at the 2017 Women’s World Championship, Farrell only hopes there will be a positive legacy moving forward for the sport.

“Overall, I take my hat off to all of our opponents,” he expressed.  “The level of the game is on the rise and I’m happy to be a part of helping to elevate the game.”

“I would encourage all of the players and all of the teams to keep sending players to the women’s world games and keep getting this thing better for everybody.”

This post is also available in: French