By Toby White
The opening ceremonies of the 2003 Summer Universiade in Daegu, South Korea have yet to begin, but Team Canada’s soccer teams have already roared into action.
The women’s team, sporting sole University of Calgary midfielder Jessica Horning, faced off against the hometown Korean team on Wed., Aug. 20. Canada dominated the opening minutes of the game with McMaster University midfielder Megan Beckett scoring on a free kick 16 minutes into the match.
Korea responded with a goal from forward Hong Kyung-suk. Hong took advantage of the wet turf to get the ball past University of Ottawa defender Melanie White who slipped, sending it into the net. Early in the second half Korea added another on a rebound from a penalty kick by Yoo Hee-yeon.
The humid Daegu heat eventually got the better of the Candian team, still-acclimatizing to the 31-degree conditions. Hong scored her second for Korea with six minutes left, leaving the Canucks to drop their opener 3-1 to the hometown women.
Head Coach Ness Timmons, from University College of Cape Breton, remained positive about the squad’s chances, pointing out that the team still had to adjust to the heat and humidity of South Korea.
“I`m really proud of the girls,” said Timmons, “We’ve been training in the rain all week, but they still battled through the heat and gave a great team effort.”
Canada’s men’s soccer team was more successful, as they upset China 2-1 in action in Gumi. The victory came after a 90th minute goal from the University of British Columbia’s Steve Frazao.
The Candian women’s team will challenge Ireland on Friday afternoon in Gumi. The men see also see action on Friday, when the Canadians take on Uruguay.