Newport Beach, CA – December 15 – The USA Women’s National Team picked up a 9-4 win over Italy to open play at the 2015 Holiday Cup. This followed a 10-9 win by Spain over the Netherlands. Team USA was spurred on by two goals each from Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar HS/CdM Aquatics), Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL), Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC), and Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/Santa Barbara). Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) anchored a stellar defensive effort recording 12 saves. Team USA returns to action on Wednesday night with a7:30pm match against the Netherlands. For boxscores and on-demand video of Holiday Cup matches and access to future match schedules and live webcast information, click here.
Team USA was strong from the start posting a 2-1 lead after the first quarter thanks to goals from Craig and Mathewson. They followed in the second quarter outscoring Italy 2-0 to take a 4-1 lead at halftime. After consecutive goals from Musselman in the third period the United States opened up an 8-2 advantage. They’d go on to pick up the victory 9-4.
Team USA went 3-6 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty while Italy went 2-9 on power plays and 1-1 on penalty shots.
Scoring – Scoresheet
USA 9 (2, 2, 2, 3) C. Mathewson 2, R. Fattal 2, K. Craig 2, M. Musselman 2, K. Neushul 1
ITA 4 (1, 0, 1, 2) A. Garibotti 2, T. Di Mario 1, G. Emmolo 1
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 12 – ITA – G. Gorlero 8
6×5 – USA – 3/6 – ITA – 2/9
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – ITA – 1/1
Spain 10 Netherlands 9 – Scoresheet
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.