Canada came to the Ninth International with a mission, and left with the
trophy. Champions in 2002 and 2003, Canada had finished out of the medals
in 2004 and third in 2005, so they were loaded for bear in 2006. Five teams
were entered in the event, representing four countries: Canada, defending
champion France, Ireland, and two U.S. entries: Unionville, Pennsylvania;
and the host team from Richland, Washington. Ireland was participating for
the first time, while Canada and France were the only teams that had played
every year since 2000, and Canada has played in every International since
1996.
Play began Thursday, October 5 with a round-robin seeding tournament involving
two-chukker games with a running clock. This gave all the teams a chance
to get accustomed to the field conditions while no one was eliminated from
contention. Canada emerged as the #1 seed with wins over France (5-2), Ireland
(3-0), and Unionville (4-1); they tied Richland 1-1. France earned the #2
seed with wins over Unionville (4-2), Ireland (5-1), and Richland (3-2).
Richland was #3 based on wins over Ireland (4-0) and Unionville (2-1), while
Unionville edged Ireland 1-0 to take the #4 seed.
The playoffs were on a double-elimination format with the #1 seed facing
the #5 seed in the first game. As the seedings would suggest, Canada came
away with a 14-1 victory. The second match pitted #2 France against #4 Unionville
in what would be the first of two close matches that most felt were the best
in the tournament. Unionville came out on top 7-5, forcing France to play
Ireland in an effort to earn a rematch. France had little trouble doing so,
defeating Ireland 12-1, but many wondered whether the extra game would help
or hurt their readiness for Saturday morning's semi-final. The first semi-final
was played Friday afternoon, with 2004 champion Richland facing Canada in
what most expected to be a close game. It didn't turn out that way, as Canada
dominated from the opening bowl-in and cruised to a 10-2 victory.
The second semi-final, a rematch between Unionville and France, was even
closer than their first meeting, as Unionville pulled out a 10-9 victory
on a late goal by Matt Terrell off a pass from Crosby Wood. After a break
for lunch, France was able to regroup and defeat Richland 9-5 for the bronze
medals in a game what was not as close as the score would indicate. The final
game was somewhat anticlimactic, as Unionville may have been exhausted from
their morning win over France and Canada was well rested. As in the game
against Richland, Canada came out firing on all cylinders and rang up a decisive
18-6 victory.
Scores