Irvine, CA – November 7 – The USA Women’s Senior National Team showed little rust in defeating China 14-3 in their first official match since winning the 2015 FINA World Championship this past August. Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara) led the offense with four goals while Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/San Diego Shores) and Sami Hill (Santa Barbara, CA/UCLA/Santa Barbara) combined for 11 saves in net. Watch a replay of the match on a single camera webcast by clicking here.
Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC) got the scoring started in the first period building an early 1-0 lead only to see China even the match not long after. It would stay 1-1 into the second period where Team USA would outscore China 4-1 including a goal from Neushul, Monica Vavic (Palos Verdes, CA/USC/Trojan), Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach HS/SET), and Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL).
Team USA emerged from halftime ahead 5-2 and continued to build on their advantage. Neushul scored two goals within the first three minutes of the period and Alys Williams(Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/HBWPC) followed with a goal for an 8-2 lead with 4:47 to play. Neushul countered a goal from China to give the United States a 9-3 lead and then KK Clark (Menlo Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC) put the match to rest with two straight goals for an 11-3 advantage going to the fourth.
The United States added on three more goals in the fourth including tallies from Vavic, Fischer, and Kodi Hill (Santa Barbara, CA/UCLA/Santa Barbara 805) to win going away 14-3. A huge difference came on the power play where the United States went 6/9 and 1/1 on penalties while China was 1/11 on power plays and 0/1 on penalty shots.
Team USA returns to action on Monday, November 23 when they take on Australia in La Jolla, CA to kick off a three game series with Australia. Tickets are on sale by clicking here.
Scoring – Scoresheet
USA 14 (1, 4, 6, 3) K. Neushul 4, K. Clark 2, M. Fischer 2, M. Vavic 2, M. Steffens 1, A. Williams 1, M. Vavic 1, K. Hill 1
CHN 3 (1, 1, 1, 0) Z. Zihan 1, S. Yating 1, N. Guannan 1
Saves – USA – G. Stone 5, S. Hill 6 – CHN – P. Lin 3, Y. Jun 3
6×5 – USA – 6/9 – CHN – 1/11
Penalties – USA – 1/1 – CHN 0/1
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.