Pan Am Games begin, with a tie
The curtain was raised at the 2015 Toronto Pan American Games on Tuesday as the Canadian women’s water polo team settled for a 7-7 tie with Brazil at the Atos Markham Pan Am/Parapan Am Centre.
Preliminary round matches are being played before Friday’s opening ceremonies so that the competition will be completed in time for the world aquatic championships starting July 24 in Russia.
Brazil’s Helene Badocco scored the tying goal with 2:33 left in the fourth period.
And Canadian goalkeeper Jessi- ca Gaudreault helped preserve the draw with a brilliant save on Izabella Maizza Chiappini with 17 seconds left to play.
Canada regained possession but couldn’t penetrate the tough Brazilian defence at the other end of the pool.
Emma Wright, Christine Robinson, Shae Fournier, Dominique Perrault, Katie Monton, Krystina Alogbo and Monika Eggens scored for No. 8 Canada, which is ranked six positions ahead of Brazil.
“I think the first (game) is always a little bit rough,” said Robinson, who is making her third Pan Am appearance.
“This is the first Pan Ams for a lot of girls, too, so I think they were maybe feeling a little bit jittery and nervous.
“Now that we know what it’s going to be like, we can just get back to the game. I think we’ll be better tomorrow.”
Canada will play Venezuela on Wednesday. In the other early games, Puerto Rico and Venezuela played to an 11-11 tie and the United States crushed Mexico 25-3.
There were pockets of flag-waving Canadian fans in the 2,000seat venue. Attendance numbers weren’t released, but there appeared to be a few hundred fans on hand for the Canada-Brazil game.
The Canadian men open against Brazil on Tuesday night.
The men’s tournament is an Olympic qualifier with the gold medallist booking a ticket to Rio de Janeiro next summer. Over 720 athletes will represent Canada in 36 sports at the Games, which continue through July 26.