The USA Women’s National Team advanced to the gold medal match of the FINA Intercontinental Tournament with a 14-10 victory over China. Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/SBWPF) and Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/Trojan) scored three goals each and EB Keeve (Naperville, IL/Arizona State/West Suburban) posted 10 saves in net in the victory. The win sets up a championship match with Australia on Sunday afternoon at 4:30pm pt. In other action today, Brazil topped Kazakhstan 12-11, Japan beat Venezuela 18-5, and Australia got past Canada 12-11 in a shootout. Complete tournament details, match recaps, and live streaming information is available by clicking here.
China came out strong early in the first quarter by scoring the first two goals of the game. Gilchrist answered tying up the game by scoring two goals. Sun Yu Jun of China scored but the USA came back with goals from Priscilla Orozco (Commerce, CA/UCLA/Commerce) and Craig making it 4-3 after one quarter of play.
KK Clark (Menlo Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC) and Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar HS) both scored in the second quarter of the game. Sun Yu Jun scored her second goal of the game with almost no time remaining in the first half making it 6-4. In the first half of the game Keeve made 6 saves for the USA and Peng Lin made 4 saves for China.
The third quarter lead to many scoring opportunities for both teams. Craig and Musselman scored the first two goals of the quarter followed by goals from China’s Song Dong Lun and Zhang Cong. Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach HS/SET) scored two goals in the quarter and Marisa Young (Fountain Valley, CA/Cal State Northridge/HBWPC) also scored for the USA. Wang Xin Yan and Li Shu Jin scored for China in the quarter. The quarter ended with a score of 11-8 with the USA leading.
In the fourth quarter, Alys Williams (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/HBWPC), Gilchrist, and Craig each scored for the United States. China’s Zhao Zi Han scored a goal on a 5-meter penalty and Zhang Cong also scored for China. Keeve made 10 saves for the USA and China’s Peng Lin made 6 saves.
Team USA Scorers
KK Clark- 1 goal
Priscilla Orozco- 1 goal
Maddie Musselman- 2 goals
Kaleigh Gilchrist- 3 goals
Kami Craig- 3 goals
Marisa Young- 1 goal
Makenzie Fischer- 2 goals
Alys Williams- 1 goal
Team China Scorers
Sun Yu Jun- 2 goals
Song Dong Lun- 2 goals
Wang Xin Yan- 2 goals
Li Shu Jin- 1 goal
Zhang Cong- 2 goals
Zhao Zi Han- 1 goal
Swimming news is courtesy of USA Water Polo.