The USA Women’s National Team advanced to the gold medal match of the Kunshan Cup with a 17-3 victory over Russia in semifinal action. Jamie Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara 805) led all scorers with four goals and Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/SD Shores) recorded five saves in net. Team USA now takes on Greece in the title match on Saturday at 4am pt.
Team USA got off to a strong start opening up a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and then adding five more goals in the second to go in front 8-1 at halftime. They tacked on four unanswered goals in the fourth to put the game away leading 12-1 going into the final eight minutes. Russia found the back of the net twice but the United States had five more goals waiting to cruise to victory 17-3.
Power plays played a major role as Team USA went 8/10 on the advantage and Russia went 2/8 with neither side attempting a penalty shot. Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET) added three goals, three steals and three drawn exclusions.
Scoring
USA 17 (3, 5, 4, 5) J. Neushul 4, M. Fischer 3, M. Musselman 3, M. Brooks 2, A. Fischer 2, K. Neushul 2, J. Raney 1
RUS 3 (0, 1, 0, 2)
Saves – USA – G. Stone 5
6×5 – USA – 8/10 – RUS 2/8
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – RUS – 0/0
June 1 – USA 10 Japan 1
Kunshan, China – June 1 – The USA Women’s National Team advanced to the semifinals of the Kunshan Cup with a 10-1 win over Japan. Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/NYAC) scored four goals and Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/SD Shores) posted four saves in the victory. Team USA advances to meet Russia on Friday at3am pt in the semifinal round.
Despite the lopsided victory it was actually Japan that started off strong with a 1-0 lead after the first quarter. After the opening eight minutes it was all Team USA as they blanked Japan 4-0 in the second quarter to lead 4-1 at halftime. The United States added three more goals in third and fourth period to win going away 10-1.
Team USA went 4/9 on power plays and 0/1 on penalties while Japan went 0/4 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty. Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/CdM Aquatics) added five steals and Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET) added three assists.
Scoring
USA 10 (0, 4, 3, 3) K. Neushul 4, M. Brooks 2, M. Seidemann 2, M. Fischer 1, A. Fischer 1
JPN 1 (1, 0, 0, 0)
Saves – USA – G. Stone 4
6×5 – USA – 4/9 – JPN – 0/4
Penalties – USA 0/1 – JPN 0/0
Water Polo news courtesy of USA Water Polo.