Extra time heartbreak for Canadian Women

A hard fought and trying came for Canada ended with many tears and disbelief.  A game that seemed to take forever to end due to extreme rain and thunder in Beijing ended in heartbreaking for Canada.  After an allmost two hour delay which postponed the game allready in progress Canada's dreams of a medal were shattered in extra time with Natasha Kai's goal in the 11th minuted of extra time, which proved to be the difference as the US advanced to the semi-final with a very hard 2-1 victory. 

Canadian keeper Karina Leblanc, forced into action after a knee injury sidelined number one keeper Erin Mcleod could hardly put the loss in words,

''It hurts,'' said LeBlanc,. ''It's like having your heart broken.

''We came in here with high expectations of ourselves. It was too soon to end. It felt like there was a knife in my heart.''   Leblanc while heartbroken deserves a ton of credit for how she performed after replacing the injured Mcleod.  She is the reason the game stayed tied for so long, with a brilliant breakway save in the 71st minute and an even better finger tip save in the 93rd. 

The match proved to be the last for coach Evan Pellerud.  After nine years on the job Pellerud is moving on and his presence will be sorely missed.  Evan Pellerud deserves allmost all the credit for how he has turned the Women's program around and turned them into real contenders.  After the match the women payed they're respects to Pellerud, ''It's the end of this era,'' said midfielder Diana Matheson. ''We've been together for two years. Who knows where our program goes from here.'' 

Evan Pellerud as he usually is was very humble following the loss and the end of his time as coach, ''I hoped my team would finish with a good performance and a win in my last game. We seemed to run out of gas early in the second half. We kept fighting and we created a war but we couldn't play the good performances we have played before. They worked hard as they can. I have no problem with the results.''

While the US controlled Canada for much of the contest give Canada credit for fighting back.  After falling behind early to an Angela Hucles goal, captain Christine Sinclair levelled the match with a great goal in the 30th minute.  Sinclair would have a chance to win the match at the end but her shot in the 78th minute was well saved by Hope Solo in the US goal. 

Clearly the Americans appear to have Canada's number as it has been over 7 years since Canada's last victory over the US.  Canada goes home now with a very promising campaign ended far too soon for them.  With Pellerud now gone many questions will be floating around this team and where it will go from here.