USA Women & Australia Close Out Exhibition Series With Aussie Victory
1/20/2012 12:00:00 AM
Sutherland, Australia - January 20 - The USA Women's National Team closed out a three game exhibition series with Australia falling to the Aussies 12-7. Brenda Villa (Commerce, CA/Stanford/Olympic Club), Lolo Silver (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/NYAC), and Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/Diablo) all scored two goals apiece in the loss. Team USA finishes 1-2 in the series and now prepares for the 2012 Holiday Cup, set for February 15-19 in Los Alamitos, CA.
For the second straight match Australia jumped out to a lead early on going up 5-2 after the first quarter. In the second period they continued to build taking a 7-3 lead at halftime. The third quarter saw the Australian defense buckle down keeping Team USA off the board while adding another goal to go up 8-3 after three quarters. In the fourth the United States got their offense on track with four scores but Australia was right there to meet them with four more goals to take the match 12-7.
Team USA went 3/7 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots while Australia was 2/6 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots. "My congratulations to Australia," said Adam Krikorian, USA Head Coach. "They put on quite a performance and shot the ball very well. Despite our struggles, this trip has been a good beginning to our journey and has given us insight into improvements that we can make."
Scoring
USA 7 (2, 1, 0, 4) B. Villa 2, M. Steffens 2, L. Silver 2, E. Windes 1
AUS 12 (5, 2, 1, 4)
6x5 - USA 3/7 - AUS 2/6
Penalties - USA 1/1 - AUS 1/1
Women's National Team