Lima, Peru - August 6 - The USA Women's National Team claimed the Group A title at the 2019 Pan American Games after defeating Venezuela 23-3.
Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC),
Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/CdM Aquatics),
Jamie Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) and
Kiley Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) all scored three goals in the win as Team USA finished 3-0 in group play.
Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) pitched a shutout in the first half and then was relieved in goal in the second half by
Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) and
Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC). The trio combined for two saves. Team USA returns to play in quarterfinal action on Thursday when they take on Peru at 11am local time/9am pacific. No live streaming is available but fans can follow @USAWP on Twitter for live match updates. For more on the Pan American Games including schedules and results,
click here.
Team USA took control of the match with an 11-goal outburst in the first quarter.
Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET) scored twice in the opening ninety seconds of teh match for a 2-0 lead. Musselman scored two of the next three goals and Team USA went up 5-0 with 4:21 left in the quarter. Six more goals followed capped by a delivery from Seidemann for the 11-0 margin after the opening eight minutes.
Stephania Haralabidis (Athens, Greece/USC/NYAC) opened and closed the second quarter with goals. In between
Kiley Neushul scored twice and Steffens added another to help make it a 16-0 USA lead at halftime. In the third Johnson headed into the field and was replaced by Fattal in the cage. Venezuela was able to get on the board with one goal but the United States countered with four scores of their own for a 20-1 lead after three.
In the fourth Seidemann took over the goal while Johnson got the chance to work on offense. With 1:34 left Johnson connected on a score out of two meters for a 22-3 advantage. Steffens added one final goal and Team USA took the match 23-3. The United States went 8/9 on power plays and 1/2 on penalties while Venezuela was 0/1 on power plays with no penalties attempted.
Scoring -
Stats
USA 23 (11, 5, 4, 3) M. Steffens 3, M. Musselman 3, J. Neushul 3, K. Neushul 3, M. Fischer 2, A. Fischer 2, A. Williams 2, M. Seidemann 2, S. Haralabidis 2, A. Johnson 1
VEN 3 (0, 0, 1, 2) S. Torres 2, S. Martinez 1
Saves - USA - A. Johnson 2, R. Fattal 0, M. Seidemann 0 - VEN - S. Martinez 1
6x5 - USA - 8/9 - VEN - 0/1
Penalties - USA - 1/2 - VEN - 0/0
