USA Men Topple Brazil 17-5; USA Women Edge Canada 8-7 On Day Five Of Pan Pacs
1/12/2012 12:00:00 AM
Pan Pacs Schedule/Results
Melbourne, Australia - January 12 - The USA Senior National Teams bounced back with victories on day five of the Pan Pacs as the USA Men took out Brazil 17-5 and the USA Women, in a rematch of the Pan Ams Games final, topped Canada 8-7. The two teams will take on the Australian "B" team tomorrow before giving way to the medal round on Saturday.
In the win over the Brazil the USA Men had a tight first quarter that saw them hold a 3-2 lead headed to the second. In the second period Team USA started to pull away taking a 6-2 lead at halftime. In the third quarter Brazil scored first but that was countered by five straight goals from the United States including two from Brian Alexander (Santa Ana, CA/UCSB/Olympic Club) to take an 11-3 lead after three quarters. In the fourth the United States put the game away as Alexander tacked on his fifth goal of the day to go along with two from John Mann (Newport Beach, CA/California/NYAC) and Team USA outscored Brazil 6-2 in the quarter to take the match 17-5.
The United States went 7/11 on power plays and Chay Lapin (Long Beach, CA/UCLA/Shore) made nine saves in the victory.
The USA Women, taking on Canada for the first time since the historic 20-round shootout win at the Pan American Games, found themselves in a close match as usual with our neighbors to the north. Canada got out to a 1-0 lead before the United States rallied with two straight goals to grab a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. In the second period Canada tied the match less than two minutes into the quarter but the USA rallied with two straight scores to take a 4-3 lead. The teams would trade scores with the United States leading 6-3 at halftime.
In the third quarter they expanded the lead out to 7-3 before Canada started to rally. The Canadians got the game to 7-5 and then 8-6 with 1:17 left in the third quarter. That was the score moving to the fourth where the USA offense was halted and Canada looked to tie the match. The Canadians found the back of the net with 4:08 to play in the quarter to draw within 8-7 but that would be as close as they would get. The Canadians drew an exclusion on the United States with 1:19 left but were unable to convert and Team USA was able to hang on for the 8-7 win.
Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC) and Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/Diablo) paced the offense with two goals apiece. Tumua Anae (Newport Beach, CA/USC/SOCAL) went the distance in net stopping eight shots. Team USA went 1/5 on power plays while Canada was 3/7. Canada went 2/3 on penalty shots, the United States did not attempt any penalty shots.
"We played well in the first half but we ran out of steam in the second half," said Adam Krikorian, USA Head Coach. "I was proud of the way we were able to get some big defensive stops at the end to secure the win."
Scoring - Men - Scoresheet
USA 17 (3, 3, 5, 6) B. Alexander 5, J. Mann 3, J. Wigo 2, J. Smith 2, J. Krumpholz 1, J. Tyrrell 1, P. Hudnut 1, A. Wright 1, L. Beaubien 1
BRA 5 (2, 0, 1, 2)
Saves - USA - C. Lapin 9
6x5 - USA 7/11
Scoring - Women - Scoresheet
USA 8 (2, 4, 2, 0) M. Steffens 2, C. Mathewson 2, B. Villa 1, K. Rulon 1, K. Craig 1, T. Gandy 1
CAN 7 (1, 2, 3, 1)
Saves - USA - T. Anae 8
6x5 - USA - 1/5 - CAN 3/7
Penalties - USA 0/0 - CAN 2/3
National Teams