Funchal, Portugal - September 13 - The USA Women's Junior National Team was eliminated from medal contention at the FINA Women's Junior World Championship following a 9-8 quarterfinal to Italy.
Jewel Roemer scored four goals to lead the offense with
Georgia Phillips posting six saves in net. Team USA now moves on to the 5th-8th place semifinal round where they will meet China on Saturday at 7:40am et/4:40am pt. Live streaming is available at
FINATV.live (subscription required). For a complete team roster
click here, for more on the event including full results,
click here.
Italy was the aggressor early in the first building a 3-1 lead with 3:18 left in the first period. Roemer responded with two straight goals to tie the match at 3-3 but Italy had the final word with a goal to go in front 4-3 after eight minutes.
Ryann Neushul and Roemer opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals in the first three minutes of the period to put the United States in front 5-4 with 5:16 to play. Italy answered with a goal a little over three minutes later and the match was tied at 5-5 at halftime.
The match was tied at 6-6 late in the third before a flurry of activity set in. Hill and Roemer scored consecutive goals to give Team USA their largest lead of the match at 8-6 with 1:11 left. Italy answered with a critical goal with just 15 seconds left in the period to leave the United States in front by one going to the fourth. In the fourth quarter the Team USA offensive well went dry as Italy was able to add two more goals to go in front 9-8. Team USA couldn't convert on opportunities late in the period and ended up with the one goal defeat.
Scoring
USA 8 (3, 2, 3, 0) J. Roemer 4, R. Neushul 2, J. Flynn 1, A. Hill 1
ITA 9 (4, 1, 2, 2) A. Cocchiere 3, D. Bettini 2, I. Riccioli 1, N. Zanetta 1, G. Amedeo 1, L. Cergol 1
Saves - USA - G. Phillips 6 ITA - C. Banchelli 6
