Tsawwassen’s Sara McManus has helped Canada reach the final stage of Olympic qualifying in women’s field hockey.
Canada closed out an impressive run at the eight-country 2019 Hockey Series Finals in Spain by losing 4-2 to the hosts in the championship game.
The second place finish was good enough to advance to a two game-series against another top two Series Final finisher later this year with the winner going to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Toyko.
Canada has not qualified for the Olympics since the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
Entering the tournament ranked 21st in the world, Canada opened with a 1-1 draw against No. 7 Spain, then produced wins over Nambia (17-0) and Belarus (3-0).
That set the stage for a semi-final clash with No. 17 Italy and Canada produced a dominating 7-0 win to keep its 2020 dream alive.
McManus, 25, was a fixture at the back and also scored four goals against Nambia with three coming from penalty strokes. She added another in the final against Spain from a penalty corner.
“I didn’t really expect it,” said McManus of her goal rush against Nambia. “Normally there isn’t three strokes in a game, but I’m happy that I was able to put them away. We were really focused on making sure we stuck to our game-plan, and executed how we wanted to play.”
Canada has jumped to No. 18 in the latest world rankings thanks to its strong showing in Spain.
Next up is the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, starting July 29. The winner will also earn an Olympic berth. Canada’s main competition will come from No. 4 Argentina, No. 12 USA and No. 16 Chile.
