FIH: Hockey: Keepers on display in shootout wins for England women over the USA, Argentina men over South Africa

Let's look at the two games in detail.

England vs USA (women) 

This game took place at the Karen Shelton Stadium, Chapel Hill, in beautiful North Carolina. The USA, looking to capitalize on the home advantage, started the game strong. They were looking all set to take revenge for their earlier loss to England in the league when they went 2-0 up in the first half. English players, too, got chances in the starting quarter. Sophie Hamilton and Matthew De Sousa created excellent opportunities, but they were denied by Kelsey Bing, USA's goalkeeper, who was in impeccable form in the game.

The USA got on the score sheet thanks to Megan Rodgers in the final minutes of the 1st quarter. Then team USA made the most of a penalty corner when Daniela Grega, with a sublime shot, flipped the ball above Sabbie Heesh. England strived valiantly in the 3rd quarter and almost got their first match goal when Grace Balsden's penalty corner shot hit the post after beating USA's goalkeeper Kelsey Bing. 

But English players kept their spirits high and continued pressuring USA's defence. It all bore fruit when Pippa Lock scooped a ball beautifully over Kelsey Bing in the fourth quarter. Holly Hunt masterfully set up this goal by driving powerfully along the baseline. This goal encouraged English players who started playing even more aggressively while the team USA was trying to hold on to their lead. The continuous attacks from the English soon created fault lines in the American defence. Sophie Hamilton scored the equalizer with a deft tap in after a saved penalty corner strike.

The penalty shootout was much more comfortable for the English as they won 3 goals to 1. It helped them in winning a bonus point from this match. Hamilton put England on the scorecard in the penalties while Erin Matson did the same for the team USA. After a miss by Lauren Moyer and Elizabeth Yeager, Elena Rayer scored England's winner. 

Kelsey Bing was given the Player of the Match award for her excellent performance in the match. In the post-match interview, she said, "I think we struggled in Match 2, so I think we showed we could come and compete in Match 2. We have a bit to work on. We want to win that game. Losing in a shootout is not acceptable but we will work on that next time."

Argentina v South Africa (men) 

The venue for this contest was Cunard, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentina came to the brink of losing their first match to South Africa in 2013. The first quarter of the game was dry in terms of goals. Still, the drought ended in the 2nd quarter when Lautaro Ferrero flicked in a penalty corner shot past South African keeper Estiaan Kriek effortlessly. 

But the lead did not survive for long, and the South Africans got on the scoreboard in the 36th minute when Ntuli masterfully scored from a pass from Samkelo Mvimbi for the equalizer. With this goal, South Africans we're all fired up and soon struck again. Connor Beauchamp put his team ahead by a great penalty corner flick. His shot split the Argentine keeper and post player with precision like threading a needle. 

South Africa somehow managed to hold on to their lead till the 59th minute despite getting two yellow cards in the ending 4 minutes of the game – Matthew Guise-Brown and Matthew De Sousa. But soon, Capurro was awarded another penalty corner. 21-year-old Agostini scored to tie the game 2-2. After this, in the game's final minutes, Argentina mounted attack after attack. Fernandez's backhand shot was saved thanks to the quick reflexes of Kriek. Soon another penalty corner by Agostini was denied by Kriek's right foot.

The penalty shootouts were as exciting as the match. 1st attempts of both teams were foiled by jaw-dropping goalkeeping - Bosso stopped Trevor de Lora, and Siquavuya Nolutshungu denied Nicolas Acosta. Natali was able to beat the keeper but not the post. There was some drama also towards the end when Bradley Sherwood had a retake after a video referral by the officials affirmed a penalty stroke. Guise-Brown finally scored to give the home side the 2-1 victory and an extra point.