Soccer team to battle for bronze

Heartbreak hit the women’s soccer team Monday night, hard, but the podium is not out of sight.

In the waning seconds of extra time against rival and defending Olympic champ U.S., a looping header from Alex Morgan past goalie Erin McLeod ended hopes of playing for a gold medal and handed the Canadians a 4-3 loss.

Despite the devastating defeat, Canadian Olympic history was made at Manchester’s Old Trafford as the women will now fight for the bronze medal against France Thursday morning at 8 a.m. EST.

“They’ve come to see the flag rise. That’s the job. They came here for that and the job is not finished,” said head coach John Herdman. “They’ll be disappointed tonight because it won’t be gold or silver, but we’ll take a medal from this tournament.”

The women lost in the quarter-final match against the American club in 2008 in Beijing.