South Africa beat the United States 7-0 on Thursday for its first win of the Olympic women’s field hockey tournament,consigning the Americans to the bottom of their pool.
The result was a surprise for two teams already eliminated from semifinal contention. The Americans had won or lost their previous matches by one goal,and conceded only six altogether.
South Africa hadn’t earned a point in four losses,but the team steadily improved from conceding an opening seven goals to Argentina to just one against Australia.
The South Africans needed to win by six to rise above the U.S.,and led by that much by the 53rd minute. Tarryn Bright and Pietie Coetzee scored twice each.
Both teams went into the 9th-12th playoffs.





