U.S. Teams Go Scoreless

The U.S. men’s and women’s field hockey teams failed to score, and as a result their tournaments are about over.

That’s nothing new for the U.S. men--their 3-0 loss to Germany makes them 0-24-4 in Olympic play through history--but it was believed that the women would fare a bit better. In the four previous Olympics with women’s field hockey competition, the host nation has won a medal each time, including the U.S. in 1984 in Los Angeles.

But Australia’s Jenny Morris scored in the third minute, off a penalty corner, and Katrina Powell made it 2-0 with a field goal in the ninth minute to put the U.S. behind, 2-0. From there, the Aussies coasted, and the U.S. (1-3-2) is going to need a lot of help to get into the medal round.

In other women’s games, Britain edged Germany, 3-2, and the Netherlands clinched a spot in the medal round with a 4-2 victory over Spain.

In men’s play, Shahbaz Ahmed scored a hat-trick as World Cup holders Pakistan rallied to beat Argentina, 6-2.