York University Lions field hockey player Anna Easty helped Team Canada win the gold medal at the 2014 Indoor Pan American Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay, on Saturday, April 12.
The Canadians defeated Argentina 3-1 to win the four-team tournament, and also clinched a berth in the 2015 Indoor World Cup next February in Germany.
Easty, a student in the Juris Doctor Program in Osgoode Hall Law School, is a fifth-year midfielder from Toronto and team captain for the Lions. She started all five games for Canada in the round robin and playoffs.
In the final, Argentina opening the scoring in the seventh minute, but Canada tied the contest four minutes later on a goal by Alison Lee (Mississauga, Ont.). In the 27th minute Madison Thompson (Waterloo, Ont.) netted what turned out to be the game winner, and Kri Shier (North Vancouver, BC) added the equalizer in the 34th minute to secure the victory.
“We’re really happy with how things went this entire tournament,” said Easty, a co-captain for the team. “We focused on one game at a time and we stuck to our game plan. It feels amazing to win this as a team, we’ve come so far and we are excited for the road ahead.”
Team Canada went 1-1-1 in the round robin, posting a 10-0 victory over Argentina, a scoreless draw with the United States and a 4-2 loss to host Uruguay. The squad then defeated the Americans 5-0 in the semis before knocking off Argentina in the final.
Easty spent two seasons with the Lions after completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Connecticut and competing for the Huskies. This past season she was named the OUA and CIS player of the year and earned first-team OUA all-star and CIS all-Canadian honours.
With files from Field Hockey Canada