Rio 2016: U.S. Women’s Goalball Defeats Brazil to Win Bronze in Rio

U.S. Women began their fight for the Paralympic podium against Brazil, on the first day of competition in Rio. Team USA’s first preliminary game against the host nation resulted in a 7-3 loss with Brazil taking advantage of penalty shots to win the game. But at the bronze medal final, it was Team USA’s turn to take advantage of penalties. Team USA took the lead from the beginning, scoring on a Brazilian long ball penalty. Minutes later, Jen Armbruster pitched the goalball past Brazil’s right wing to extend their lead, 2-0. Brazil answered by popping the ball over Armbruster to…  Read More

Rio 2016: U.S. Men’s Goalball Will Play for Gold in Rio

U.S. Men have shown impressive endurance since their first game against China at the Rio Paralympic Games. Team USA emerged from the ‘group of death’ with a 2-2 record in pool play. Then, they survived the knockout round by earning their ‘toughest win of the tournament’ against Germany in quarterfinals. All of their hard work brought them to a game against host nation, Brazil, in the semifinals. The winner would play for gold while the loser would fight for a spot on the podium. In the first half, Brazil committed a surprising four penalties, all of which U.S. Men were able to score on.…  Read More

Rio 2016: U.S. Women’s Goalball Will Rematch Against Brazil in Bronze Medal Game

It has been a long tournament for the U.S. Women who started preliminary play exactly one week ago at the Rio Paralympic Games. Through five games, the U.S. Women’s Goalball team has shown patience and endurance by keeping a solid wall of defense against opponents but tonight, Turkey’s top scorer, Sevda Altunoluk, broke through their wall. Altunoluk is also the top scorer in the tournament so far. Turkey scored on Team USA in the first minute and continued to break past their defense a total of five times before the end of the first half. Asya Miller was able to…  Read More

Rio 2016: Defense Wins U.S. Redemption Over Canada

Team USA finished second in their group yesterday and were matched up with Canada in the quarterfinals, who finished third. The two teams have a long history of playing each other in friendly and competitive tournaments. Their most recent international meeting was in Toronto last August at the Para Pan American Games where Team USA finished in second place, ahead of Canada. Both nations have participated in the Paralympic Games since 1980 but it was their last game at the London 2012 Paralympic Games that left a lasting impression on the U.S. Women’s goalball team. U.S. Women lost to Canada…  Read More

Rio 2016: U.S. Men’s Goalball Earns Toughest Win So Far

Though U.S. Men lost to Turkey on Monday in their final game of preliminary play, they had already secured a spot in the quarterfinals with a 4th place finish ahead of Finland, reigning Paralympic Champions. On Tuesday afternoon, Finland beat China (11-7), moving U.S. Men into 3rd place going into quarterfinals. Then, Lithuania’s win over Tukey (5-3) later Tuesday night moved U.S. Men into second place, which put them against Germany, who took 3rd place during preliminary play in Group A. Quarterfinals serve as a single elimination round at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games; and since both American and German…  Read More