USA Women Down Puerto Rico 24-4 On Day Two Of Pan American Games
10/24/2011 12:00:00 AM
Guadalajara, Mexico - October 24 - The USA Water Polo Women's National Team made quick work of Puerto Rico on day two of competition at the Pan American Games claiming a 24-4 victory at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center. Four goals from Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, Calif./USC/Santa Barbara WPF) led the well-balanced offensive attack that saw all but one field player score a goal. Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Michigan/NYAC) and Tumua Anae (Newport Beach, Calif./USC/SoCal) combined to make four saves in net anchoring a defense that has allowed only four goals through two matches.
The United States raced out to an 8-0 lead after the first quarter. Early in the second Puerto Rico got on the board breaking a five quarter scoreless streak for the Americans. Puerto Rico scored two of the first three goals to open the period but the United States followed that with six goals to close out the quarter and took a commanding 15-2 lead into halftime. The third and fourth quarters were dominated by Team USA as they outscored Puerto Rico 9-2 to come away with the victory. Other scorers for Team USA included Annika Dries (Laguna Beach, Calif./Stanford/SET), Kelly Rulon (San Diego, Calif./UCLA/NYAC), and Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, Calif./Stanford/Stanford) all scoring three times while Brenda Villa (Commerce, Calif./Stanford/Olympic Club), Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, Calif./USC/NYAC), Maggie Steffens (Danville, Calif./Stanford/Diablo), Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, Calif./UCLA/NYAC), and Elsie Windes (Portland, Ore./California/Tulatin Hills) each scored twice. Jessica Steffens (Danville, Calif./Stanford/NYAC) closed out the scoring with a goal of her own. Team USA went 5/8 on power plays and 1/2 on penalty shots, Puerto Rico went 0-1 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots.
The squad closes out group play tomorrow with a 12:15pm matchup against Cuba, a top ten finisher from this summer's FINA World Championships.
Scoring - Scoresheet
USA 24 (8, 7, 7, 2) K. Craig 4, A. Dries 3, K. Rulon 3, M. Seidemann 3, E. Windes 2, M. Steffens 2, C. Mathewson 2, L. Wenger 2, B. Villa 2, J. Steffens 1
PUR 4 (0, 2, 1, 1)
Saves - USA - B. Armstrong 2, T. Anae 2
6x5 - USA - 5/8 - PR - 0/1
Penalties - USA 1/2 - PR 1/1
"Going into these first three games we are using these first three games as preparation for the last two. With that we would like to execute as well as we can to get in a good rhythm and build some confidence and I thought today we were really sharp from the beginning and I couldn't be more happy with the team." Adam Krikorian, USA Head Coach
"We are just looking to build upon each game and get better as we progress. The eventual goal is the last game so with each game we are trying to get a little better offensively and defensively and pushing towards the finals. It's really exciting, we have been waiting since January to be here and now it's finally here. We spent ten days in Colorado and I think we are ready to play and that showed yesterday when we came out and scored ten goals in the first half. The excitement is there and we are ready to go." Courtney Mathewson, USA Attacker
Women's National Team