BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former Indiana University star Shae Fournier (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Grant Park) notched a pair of markers and current Hoosier Kelly Matthews (Sr., Roxboro, Quebec, Canada/St. Thomas) put away a solo strike as Canada dealt with Hungary, 8-5, in both teams’ third game at Taipei Songshan Sports Center in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) during the 29th Summer Universiade/University Games.
Fournier, who posted a hat-trick in a 15-4 defeat of New Zealand to open the tournament on Friday, August 18, prior to notching another three goal output in a 17-11 loss to the Russian Federation on Sunday, August 20, added a steal against Hungary in 26:53 of action.
Through three games, Fournier now has eight goals, one assist and two steals in 62:55, while Matthews, who notched a single goal against Hungary in 17:39, has two goals and a field block in 40:09 after recording a goal and a field block versus New Zealand. Matthews did not post a statistic against the Russian Federation.
Canada rolled out a 3-0 lead in the first quarter capped off by Matthews’ tally with 3:07 remaining in the opening frame. Hungary inched within 3-1 prior to the conclusion of the quarter and pulled to within 3-2 with 6:29 to go in the second quarter prior to Canada answering to make it 4-2 with 4:28 on the clock.
Back-to-back strikes by Hungary at the halftime buzzer and again with 5:22 on the third quarter clock knotted the teams at four-all. However, consecutive blasts by Gurpreet Sohi (4:10) and Fournier (2:57) turned the tide of the contest back in Canada’s favor to make it a 6-4 game.
Hungary was unable to overcome the mini-onslaught as Axelle Crevier pushed the gap to 7-4 at the 5:47 mark of the fourth quarter. Following a marker at the 5:37 mark to once again move within two at 7-5, Fournier delivered the final blow for Canada by converting on a man-up opportunity with 4:53 on the clock for the 8-5 final score.
Canada is competing in Pool A for the event against Russia, Hungary, Japan, Great Britain and New Zealand. Action continues later in the week against Japan (Thursday, August 24) and Great Britain (Friday, August 25) prior to the Quarterfinal (Saturday, August 26), Semifinal (Sunday, August 27) and Championship (Tuesday, August 29) rounds.
