RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The Netherlands survived its toughest test yet in Olympic women's field hockey when it edged No. 2-ranked Argentina 3-2 on Monday to push its gold medal threat into the semifinals.
The No. 1 vs. No. 2 contest was a rematch of the 2012 London Games final, but far more thrilling.
The Netherlands led 3-0 after 37 minutes, most of them in the rain. But when the clouds closed back up, Argentina came out to play, and scored twice while the Dutch were women down from yellow cards. Despite pressing the Dutch within their own 23 for the last eight minutes, Argentina could not get off a shot, leaving them out of the Olympic medals for the first time in 20 years.