Story Links
July 2, 2005
The USA World Cup Team advanced to the finals of the IFWLA for the seventh consecutive time with a 13-3 victory over the English in a game held at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD. Player of the Match Crista Samaras led all players with four goals, two more than the entire English team scored, and she added a pair of caused turnovers and ground balls to help the USA advance to the gold medal game where the Americans will face the Australians on Saturday, July 2. The USA dominated the draw controls, 11-7, as Lauren Aumiller, Kelly Amonte Hiller, Jo Connelly and Sarah Nelson each won two, more than any English player. Keeper Chris Lindsey made six saves in the first half, including several point-blank ones, and allowed the English side players to score only one goal in the opening 30 minutes.
The English won the opening draw, but Lindsey kept them off the board with a huge save in the opening minute, and Quinn Carney corralled the ground ball. The Americans turned the ball over on the clear, but Lauren Aumiller caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball to give the Stars and Stripes the ball back. Again the USA turned over the ball, but Kate Kaiser stopped the English advance with a caused turnover and ground ball. The Americans again turned the ball over, but Cherie Greer caused a turnover and Dani Gallagher picked up the loose ball to give the Americans possession again. The Stars and Stripes promptly turned the ball over again, but Kaiser caused a turnover and picked up the loose ball. The Americans again turned the ball over before Carney caused a turnover and Connelly picked up the loose ball. The Americans again turned the ball over, but Amonte Hiller caused a turnover and Connelly picked up the loose ball. Connelly passed the ball to Gallagher, who in turn fed the ball to a wide-open Aumiller in the arc. Aumiller converted the pass and scored at 5:03, putting the US up 1-0 early.
Aumiller won the ensuing draw, but the USA turned the ball over out of bounds before an English pass was picked off by Bonnie Rosen on the goal line extended. The Americans brought the ball upfield where an Amonte Hiller shot was saved, but Gallagher collected the ground ball. Carney next got off a shot that was saved, and the English took the ball to the other end where after a settled attack scored on an opposite post feed to tie the game at 1-1 at 9:30.
The English won the next draw and quickly got off a shot, but Lindsey made the point-blank save. The English collected the loose ball and got off another shot. An American player was issued a yellow card on the play, and one of the English was awarded an 11-meter shot. The shot was saved by Lindsey, and the ball popped out of the goal circle. An American defender attempted to pass the ball back to Lindsey, but instead sent it into an open net, putting the English up 2-1 at 11:16.
Amonte Hiller won the draw and the Americans attacked as Connelly took a shot, but it was saved and the English retained possession, starting a 2v1 breakaway. Lindsey stonewalled the English attacker, who had gone 1v1 against her, keeping the US down by just one goal. Sommar picked up the loose ball and started a clear, but the Americans lost possession and the English re-attacked, but Lindsey again stopped them with a huge save.
The Americans attempted another clear, but they threw the ball away before an attempted pass was picked up by Gallagher, giving the Yanks possession. At the other end of the field, a Connelly shot was saved, but the English clear was broken and Carney picked up the loose ball. She drove in and took a shot that was saved, giving the English an attempted clear. They lost the ball and Rosen took possession. She advanced the ball to Lindsey, who cleared the ball to Connelly. Connelly passed the ball up to Randee Goldsborough, who led Carney with a pass into the arc. Carney scored at 17:57 to tie the game at 2-2.
The Americans went on a tear, with Connelly winning the draw and getting the ball to Greer, who led a pass to Aumiller. Aumiller scored 28 seconds after Carney to give the USA a lead they would not relinquish.
Kara Cooke won the draw control in traffic, and the Americans quickly advanced the ball where Samaras drove in on her own, scoring at 19:06 to put the Yanks up by two. Greer won the draw, but the Americans turned the ball over, and the English took the ball to their offensive end where Lindsey again made a save, giving the USA possession. Lindsey threw the ball up to Greer, who worked the ball up to Carney, where she in turn found Amonte Hiller for a goal at 20:58 and a 5-2 USA lead.
Kaiser won the ensuing draw and a Greer shot was saved, giving the English possession. Greer caused a turnover on the clear, but the Americans lost possession. The English took the ball back to their offensive end where Lindsey again made a save.
Lindsey threw a 50-yard clear up to Goldsborough, who got the ball to Kaiser. Kaiser rolled the crease, drew her defender, and fed Carney across the goal circle. Carney converted the pass at 24:42 for a 6-2 lead. The English won the draw, but they threw the ball out of bounds and Greer took possession near the sideline. The Yanks worked the ball upfield and settled their attack before Goldsborough took the ball to the goal line extended before turning and firing a pass to longtime teammate Samaras. Samaras quicksticked the ball into the cage at 26:09 for a 7-2 lead.
The English won the draw, but Kaiser drew a charge on a crease roll, giving the USA possession. At the other end of the field, a Carney shot was saved but the English threw the ball out of bounds and Cooke picked up the loose ball. Cooke passed the ball back to Lindsey, who cleared the ball back to Cooke. Cooke got the ball to Connelly, who advanced the ball up to the American offensive zone. There Carney, from behind the cage, fed a cutting Samaras, who quicksticked the ball into the net for a goal at 29:00, giving the USA an 8-2 lead. Sarah Nelson won the draw, and the Americans ran out the clock for an 8-2 halftime lead.
The English won the opening draw of the second half, and they quickly attacked the cage where Jess Wilk made a save on the first shot of the half. The Americans cleared the ball upfield where a Samaras shot was saved, but she collected her own missed shot. She then fed Carney, who got the ball to Goldsborough. Goldsborough was fouled as she drove to the cage, and she was awarded an 11-meter shot. Her shot was saved, and the English cleared the ball to the other end.
Greer caused a turnover and Kaiser was there for the ground ball, but the Americans turned the ball over on the clear. In the English offensive zone, they were awarded an 11-meter shot. Wilk was up to the task, saving the shot and Samaras collected the ground ball. Again the Americans turned over the ball, and on the play the American side was given a yellow card. Kaiser caused a turnover and picked up the loose ball to give the Americans possession again, and the Stars and Stripes brought the ball upfield where a Cooke shot was saved, but Nelson collected the ground ball. A subsequent Greer shot was saved and the English controlled the ball. They worked the ball upfield where they drew a foul, but again Wilk made the save to keep the English off the scoreboard in the second half. The Americans turned the ball over, but Samaras caused a turnover and picked up the ground ball in the USA defensive arc to get possession for the Americans. The USA turned the ball over on the clear, but Sommar again caused a turnover and picked up the loose ball. She got the ball to Connelly, and the Americans advanced the ball upfield.
In the American settled attack, Amonte Hiller got the ball behind the cage where she fed Samaras, who scored her third consecutive goal of the game, giving the USA a 9-2 lead at 42:38.
The English won the draw, but Samaras caused a turnover and Aumiller picked up the loose ball. The Americans lost the ball briefly, but Carney checked the ball loose and Cooke was there to pick up the loose ball. The Americans settled the ball before Carney drove into the cage and scored, putting the US in double digits at 10-2 with 16:10 to play in the game. The English again won the draw, and they advanced the ball quickly where Sarah Butt fed a pass to Katy Bennett, who scored at 45:16, breaking a 34:00 streak of the ball going in the American net.
Nelson won the draw, but the Yanks turned the ball over before Connelly caused a turnover and Wilk was there to pick up the loose ball. The Americans failed to clear the ball successfully, and the English attacked again. A shot was blocked by Cooke, and Wilk picked up the ground ball. The Americans lost the ball, and the English attacked again but the shot was wide and Rosen picked up the loose ball.
The Americans worked the ball behind the English cage and Amonte Hiller rolled the crease and scored at 52:40 to put the USA up 11-3. Connelly won the draw, but the Americans lost the ball in their offensive zone. At the other end of the field, Rachael Becker caused a turnover and Rosen was there to pick up the ground ball. The Americans worked the ball upfield and settled their attack where Sommar rolled the crease and dumped the ball into Aumiller, who scored her third goal of the game at 54:28.
The English won the draw, but Rosen caused a turnover and got the ground ball, and the Americans took the the ball to the other end of the field where Amonte Hiller again rolled the crease to score her third goal of the game at 57:19. She won the ensuing draw, and the Americans attempted to run out the clock, but turned the ball over briefly before Becker caused a turnover and picked up the loose ball, and the Americans held on for the win.
With their second blowout of the English in the 2005 IFWLA World Cup, the Americans advanced to the gold medal match where they will face the Australians in a game at 3:00 on Saturday, July 2. The two teams met in pool play earlier in the tournament and the two tied, 7-7.