Despite a relentless defensive effort throughout, Canada’s women’s goalball team fell 2-1 to tough Japan at the 2024 Paralympic Games, in Paris.

It was the second match for each country in Pool D, with one game to go before the medal round.

The game came down to two key second-half moments that turned the tide against the Canadians.

With the score tied 1-1, team ace Emma Reinke put a hard bouncing throw down the court toward the right side of the Japanese net.

Saki Amuro deflected it, but the ball kept rolling towards the far corner with the defender in pursuit. The 11-year veteran trapped the ball with her foot against the goalpost, saved a go-ahead goal.

As the clock kept running down and it seemed like the game was destined to finish tied, until Norika Hagiwara finally found a gap from the Canadian defence. She scored for Japan with a ground-level rolling throw with only 1:23 left into the game on a shot that deflected off the defender’s feet and in for the eventual 2-1 winning margin.

The Canadians had momentum early. Reinke, who scored six goals againt France, wasted no time making an impact.

Just 14 seconds in, the St. Thomas, Ont. native scored on Canada’s first throw attempt with a direct ball which slipped through Hagiwara and gave her team an early lead.

But the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics bronze medalist, Japan, responded before the halftime break, and demonstrated the reason why they are the number two ranked team in the world. Hagiwara, who had a hat-trick in the previous victory against Republic of Korea, managed to equalize the score with 1:58 left in the first half.

Both teams had an outstanding defensive performance, with 86 and 88 blocks for Canada and Japan respectively.

Despite Canada’s strong start on Thursday, they have now dropped to the second place with a 1-1 record in Pool D behind Japan.

They will look to bounce back on Sunday when they face the Republic of Korea. (This year’s tournament features a round-robin format, where all teams advance to a fully-seeded knockout stage based on their group stage performance.)