USA Women Beat CAN 14-7 To Win At Olympic Qualification Tournament

Gouda, Netherlands – March 22 – The USA Women’s National Team held off a couple of rallies from Canada before pulling away for a 14-7 victory on day two of the Olympic Qualification Tournament. Canada closed to within a goal in the first period and to within four goals in the fourth quarter but would get no closer. Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar HS/CdM Aquatics) led all scorers with three goals and Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) posted seven saves in net. Team USA returns to action tomorrow against Spain at 2pm local time/6am pst. The match will be streamed live and can be accessed by clicking here. Earlier today it was also announced that NBC Sports Network will air Team USA’s quarterfinal match on Saturday at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. NBC Sports Live Extra will also provide live streaming coverage of all four quarterfinal matches. For more tournament information visit Gouda2016.com. For Team USA results, click here.

Much like their win over Japan on Monday, Team USA used a strong start to build a lead against Canada. Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach HS/SET) scored the first two goals of the match to grab a quick 2-0 lead. Musselman followed with her first goal with 3:32 left to play in the period and Team USA had seized control. Sisters Monika and Carmen Eggens teamed up for the next two goals from Canada to close within a goal at 3-2 but the United States had an answer. Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/NYAC) and Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara) followed with scores to take a 5-2 lead into the second quarter. Neushul’s goal came with just two seconds left in the period.

Neushul found the back of the net again in the second quarter to open the scoring for a 6-2 lead. Axelle Crevier scored for Canada but the momentum was short lived as Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/NYAC) ripped a backhand for a score and a 7-3 score at halftime. Musselman and Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC) scored the first two goals of the third to build a 9-3 lead. Canada chipped away scoring two of the next three goals leaving the United States ahead 10-5 after three quarters.

Craig started off the fourth with a powerful turn from two meters to raise the lead back to five at 11-5. Canada scored two straight to make one last push closing to 11-7 but the United State would respond with a three goal run to secure the match. Musselman scored on the counter attack, then found Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC) for a goal and finally KK Clark (Menlo Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC) capped the flurry on a drive and score for a 14-7 margin.

Team USA went 4/7 on power plays while Canada was 3-8 on power plays with neither team attempting a penalty shot.

Scoring
USA 14 (5, 2, 3, 4) M. Musselman 3, M. Fischer 2, K. Neushul 2, K. Craig 2, M. Steffens 1, A. Fischer 1, C. Mathewson 1, K. Clark 1, K. Gilchrist 1
CAN 7 (2, 1, 2, 2) C. Eggens 2, M. Eggens 1, J. Bekhazi 1, A. Crevier 1, H. Yelizarova 1, E. Wright 1
Saves – USA – A. Johnson – 7 – CAN. J. Gaudreault 8
6×5 – USA – 4/7 – CAN 3/8
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – CAN 0/0