Netherlands down Canada
The Netherlands jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back in a 12-9 victory over Canada in their final game of group play. Nienke Vermeer set the tone early, scoring a backhand out of 2 meters on the first possession of the game before drawing an exclusion and putting the ball past the Canadian keeper from the post on the man-advantage to establish an early lead for the Dutch. The Canadians finally got on the scoreboard 13 minutes into the contest when Hanna Yelizarova scored a no-look shot on the man advantage to close the deficit to 5-1. After the Netherlands extended their lead to 8-2 on back-to-back goals by Jantien Cabout, Canada closed the gap to four before the elder Cabout solidified the Dutch lead at 10-4 with back-to-back scores of her own. Following a counterattack goal by Iefue Van Belkum that stretched the Dutch lead to 11-4, the Canadians reeled of three more goals of their own to start the fourth, but a score off a rebound by Noeui Klein with two minutes remaining sealed the victory for the Netherlands. Nienke Vermeer led the Netherlands with three goals and Ilse Van Der Meijden added eight saves to earn three points for the Dutch team in their final game of pool play.
NED 12 (3,3,4,2) N. Vermeer 3, M. Cabout 2, S. Van Der Sloot 2, Y. Cabout 2, N. Stomphorst 1, I. Van Belkum 1, N. Klein 1.
CAN 9 (0,2,2,5) E. Chikos 2, J. Bekhazi 2, M. Eggens 2, K. Alogbo 1, D. Perreault 1, C. Robinson 1.
Saves
CAN - Riddell 3, Janssens 3
NED - Van Der Meijden 8
"This is the first game I am very glad for my team. I think they played very well for the first three periods, and we took a big advantage against Canada. I think Canada is among the first four teams in the world, and I am very happy for my players. This is the first really good game for my team in this World League."
-Mauro Maugeri, Head Coach, The Netherlands
"I think the team is much more strong now; as strong as the USA and Australia. This is a younger team and this World League is a good moment for this team to grow."
-Mauro Maugeri, Head Coach, The Netherlands
"We're not happy. We can't come in 5-0 and expect to win the game. The girls aren't listening and aren't executing the game plans."
-Patrick Oaten, Head Coach, Canada
"We're looking forward to the games ahead, the will be good challenges."
-Patrick Oaten, Head Coach, Canada
Australia Defeats Greece
Behind a four-goal effort Rowena Webster, Australia came back from an early deficit to beat Greece in the final game of pool play for both teams. Webster netted each of the final four goals for the Aussies, including the go-ahead goal on an extra-man opportunity with 5 minutes remaining in the final period. Two minutes later, she added an insurance goal on the counterattack that put the game out of reach for the challengers from Europe. Greece jumped out to an early 2-0 lead behind goals from Alexandra Asimaki and Antigoni Roumpesi, but Kyriaki Liosi was excluded for the remainder of the game for arguing with officials after a goal by Australia's Melissa Rippon late in the first quarter. With the Greeks leading at the midway point of the second quarter, Glencora Ralph netted a counterattack goal to tie the game before Webster scored her first of the game on a penalty shot to give the Aussies a 4-3 lead at halftime. Greece stormed back in the third quarter and tied the game on an outside shot by Triantafyllia Manolioudaki, but Webster responded with a skip shot past the Greek keeper to maintain the slim Australian advantage. Maria Tsouri notched 14 saves for Greece in a losing effort.
AUS 7 (1,3,1,2) R. Webster 4, B. Knox 1, G. Ralph 1, M. Rippon 1.
GRE 5 (2,1,1,1) A. Asimaki 1, A. Roumpesi 1, A. Gerolymou 1, T. Manolioudaki 1, S. Antonakou 1.
Saves
AUS- Brown 10
GRE- Tsouri 14
"Yesterday I thought was a good game, today I didn't think was a good game, even though we lost yesderday, there were a lot of good points from the game and I was happy with the way a lot of the players played yesterday. Today, they players just weren't up for it and I though it was a pretty disappointing performance."
-Greg McFadden, Head Coach, Australia
"We played good offense, but it was tough and there were many exclusions"
-Greorgios Morfests, Head Coach, Greece
Hungary Beats China in Battle of Group A Leaders
Hungary used a pair of hat-tricks from Gabriella Szucs and Rita Keszthelyi to beat China, 11-7 in the final game of play in Group A. After China recovered from an early deficit to tie the game at 3-3 early in the second quarter, Hungary scored 5 goals in a row to open up a commanding 10-4 lead. China was able to close the gap late in the fourth quarter with a pair of goals by Ao Gao, but Hungary held on for an 11-7 victory.
HUN 11 (2, 5, 3, 1) G. Szucs 3, R Keszthelyi 3, D. Kisteleki 2, R. Draviucz 2, B. Bujka 1
CHN 7 (2, 2, 0, 3) A. Gao 3, Y. Wang 2, Y. Sun 1, H. Ma 1
Saves
HUN - Gyongyossy 8
CHN - Yang 5
"We were sleeping. Today, win, lose or tie it does not matter, but tomorrow is very, very important."
- Juan Jan Giralt, Head Coach, China
"We had very good defense and very good shots this game."
- Matyas Petrovics, Head Coach, Hungary
"The whole team played very well and put in 100% [concentration]."
- Matyas Petrovics, Head Coach, Hungary
Team USA Wins Group B with Victory Over Russia
Captain Brenda Villa scored three goals to lead the United States to a 12-9 win over Russia that clinched Group B in the final game of pool play. After Russia tied the score at 6 apiece early in the third quarter, the United States used a three-goal run to create an advantage it would not relinquish. Kelly Rulon skipped one past the Russian keeper on the man advantage before Brenda Villa and Lauren Wenger each added extra-man goals to build a 9-6 lead for the Americans. Russia closed the gap to 10-8 with a backhand shot out of two meters by Anna Timofeeva, but Maggie Steffens converted a hard-angle shot on the man advantage to extend the lead to 11-8. The Russians added one more with two minutes remaining in the contest, but Tanya Gandy converted a penalty shot with one minute left to seal the victory.
Annika Dries had a strong game in two meters for the United States, capitalizing on the Russian's press defense. The Stanford sophomore gave the United States a 6-5 advantage at the half with a goal out of two meters in the waning seconds of the second quarter. Dries, guarded by four Russian players, was pushed underwater but managed to hold on to the ball and lob it past the opposing keeper, Maria Kovtunovskaya. Ekaterina Prokofyeva added two goals for the Russians in defeat, while Dries and Tanya Gandy each netted two for Team USA.
USA 12 (1, 5, 3, 3) B. Villa 3, T. Gandy 2, K. Rulon 2, A. Dries 2, L. Wenger 1, M. Steffens 1, M. Seidemann1
RUS 9 (2, 3, 1, 3) E. Prokofyeva 2, A. Timofeeva 1, N. Ryzhova-Alenicheva 1, E. Soboleva 1, O. Karpovich 1, O. Belyaeva 1, Y. Gaufler 1, E. Pustyinnikova 1
Saves
USA - Armstrong 6
RUS - Kovtunovskaya 2
"The practice round is over. The real games start tomorrow and we should be ready for it."
- Alexandr Kabanov, Head Coach, Russia
"It was a sluggish game, I didn't think we played that well especially in the first half. We turned it on and played much better in the second half with some respects. We're looking forward to the next games, the quarter finals."
- Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA
"The group that came in off the bench, our second group, actually did do a good job. There was a clear difference between the second group and the first group today."
-Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA
"Any time you play Russia is a chance for the centers to really go to work because [Russia] loves to press. So [Annika] got some isolation opportunities and she took advantage."
-Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA