CANWNT defeated Sweden Friday night in Yokahama
By Official Florida FC
Canada clinched its first Olympic gold medal on Friday night with a victory in penalty kicks over Sweden.
The Canadians won 3-2 in penalty kicks after the two countries were tied 1-1 after 120 minutes.
The win was a triumph for its captain and talisman Christine Sinclair who has represented the country with pride, professionalism and predatory goalscoring for 20 years. A trio of players with Florida ties were right at home with the celebrations.
USF’s all-time leading scorer Evelyne Viens made two appearances as a forward in the group stage. Florida State senior defender Gabrielle Carle also made a cameo in the group stage. Former Florida Gator Adriana Leon made five appearances and scored the opening goal against Great Britain in group play. Then there was Florida alumna Deanne Rose, who appeared in all six matches for the Canadians, and cooly finished a penalty kick.
Rose played 232 minutes in the Olympics. She was a subsitutute five times and started the group stage finale against Great Britain on July 27. She didn’t score, but was enough of a nuiscance in attack that both the Urnited States and Sweden fouled her in the penalty box.
Instead of walking across the stage in to pick up her degree in Gainesville, Rose was on top of the podium in Yokohama with her teammates.
Canada scored six goals in six matches and didn’t score a goal from open play during the knockout rounds, but none of that matters. Rose, Viens and Carle helped their country win its first gold medal.
