Today was a great lesson for the girls, playing a Hungarian team, in Hungary, with European referees. In that situation there are no gifts, everything must be earned and trying to understand why things are the way they are is foolish. We started off ok, leading 5-1 after the first and this was a reflection of the ability of our team. In the second we had to work much harder to control the ball under pressure as free throws were not awarded, we did not adjust. The second quarter was 1-1. That shift in momentum resulted in a pick-up of spirits for the Hungarians and a panic from us, the 3rd quarter was a struggle and it was played to a 5-5 tie.
Entering the 4th we lead 11-7 and relaxed quite a bit. Time was on our side and Juice talked to the team about taking care of business, not giving up. We went back to 2 lines of substitution so nobody had to carry the team or feel overburdened. That worked well and we won the last 5-0 for a commanding 16-7 win. Breanna was solid in net most game, including stopping a 5m penalty shot. There were lots of 5m free throws and she got to most of those as well.
We now play Hungary 1 on Sunday at 9:00 with the winner taking the Olympic Hopes crown with the victory. We are lucky to have played the second Hungarian team today as it was a good intro to what to expect on Sunday. It should be fun and the girls will be happy to have just one game.
Pre Game Cheer
The girls have come up with an interesting post warm-up cheer while in Hungary. It involves Gurpreet leading with a booming song and a team chorus that drowns that out. I may try to capture it on video Sunday but that will be hard as they do it on their own outside.
Just 1 more game, 2 more sleeps and then they are home (or, at least, in North America).
