Women's Olympic qualifier: Ireland defeat Ukraine 8-0 in second pool game
- Published
Roisin Upton celebrates scoring Ireland's fifth goal with team-mates
The goals flowed for Ireland as they comprehensively beat Ukraine 8-0 in their second Pool game of the Olympic qualifiers in Valencia on Monday.
Sarah Torrans scored twice while Niamh Carey, Hannah McLoughlin, Bethany Harper, Roisin Upton, Deirdre Duke and Katie Mullan also found the net.
The victory follows Saturday's 0-0 draw with Belgium in their opener.
A draw against Korea on Tuesday would be enough to move Ireland into the semi-finals of the tournament.
The semi-final stage will be where the places for the Paris Olympics in the summer will be decided.
"I think we went quarter by quarter, minute by minute in those quarters and we built into the game," said Ireland captain Katie Mullan after the victory over Ukraine.
"I think we had a very important job to do today and the manner in which we did it, I'm just incredibly proud of the girls. We scored some amazing team goals and it's on to the next job now."
While dominating possession in the opening quarter, Ireland failed to convert their territorial dominance into goals.
That all changed in the second quarter when Torrans deflected a Mullan pass high into the net to open the scoring.
Naomi Carroll set up Carey for the second goal before half-time and Ireland began to look comfortable.
What will have pleased coach Sean Dancer was the way they finished off their neat build-up play after the interval as Ireland took their chances.
McLoughlin's clean strike from a penalty corner and a super finish from Duke made it 4-0 by the end of the third quarter but Ireland weren't about to rest on their laurels. Goal difference may still be a factor and they scored four more goals in the final 15 minutes.
Upton's drag flick nestled in the corner of the Ukraine net and Harper deflected in McLoughlin's set-up as Ireland's penalty corner routine began to click.
Torrans turned in her second of the match and Mullan completed the scoring with a superb run and finish on the reverse stick.
After the first two games the tournament becomes very real on Tuesday when the Olympic dream could end abruptly. Ireland last faced Korea just over a year ago in the Nations Cup and through away a late 2-0 lead to draw 2-2.
Mullan added: "The only thing that myself and the rest of the team are thinking about now is recovering and resetting to put ourselves in the best spot for tomorrow's game [against Korea] and we'll be as best prepared as possible for that.
"We've changed a lot in 12 months, so we've done our preparation for the game and I'm just really excited to take to the field again with this amazing group of players."