Perth, Australia - January 11 - The USA Women's National Team played Australia in Perth earlier today and came away with a 10-10 draw.
Jordan Raney led the way with four goals for the United States. Team USA will play Australia on Friday morning at 6:30am et/3:30am pt. The match can be streamed by
clicking here (may not be available in the United States). Tickets for the Tri-Nations Test Series in Perth are available by
clicking here.
Team USA got off to a good start in the opening quarter courtesy of
Rachel Fattal, who scored back-to-back goals to open play. Maddy Steere and Pascalle Casey responded for Australia to even the score at 2-2 after the first period. Australia began the second quarter with a goal from Jamie Oberman and a pair of goals from captain Zoe Arancini before
Maddie Musselman got the Americans on the board in the period to narrow the margin to 5-3. From there, Elle Armit got back-to-back scores before Arancini converted again for 8-3. Team USA responded late in the first half with one goal to make the halftime score 8-4 in favor of the hosts.
As the third quarter began, the United States began their comeback. Musselman and
Jovana Sekulic scored for Team USA to cut the deficit in half, 8-6. Armit countered with her third score on the day followed by a quick reply from the Americans and another for Oberman from downtown, giving the Aussie Stingers a 10-7 advantage after three periods. In the final frame, the Americans got back in the game powered by
Jordan Raney, who opened the fourth with back-to-back goals for 10-9. With ten seconds remaining in the contest, Team USA drew a penalty and Raney converted a penalty shot to lock the score at 10-10 as the United States and Australia played to a draw.
"The effort was there, especially the second half. The Aussies were really good and tough in the first half. We did a nice job responding in that third quarter to get us a little bit closer and obviously the fourth quarter, closing the gap. I'm not surprised that it ended up in a tie, these are two great teams and obviously to play in this incredible environment," Team USA Head Coach Adam Krikorian said. "It's incredible to be here doing this event. I think all of us as competitors and people who play the sport, we love the game, so to be able to share this moment with all these young kids… everyone keeps saying thank you to me and us for being here, but really it's a big thanks to the Aussies for having us here."
Scoring -
Stats via Water Polo Australia
USA 10 (2, 2, 3, 3) J. Raney 4, M. Musselman 2, R. Fattal 2, J. Sekulic 2
AUS 10 (2, 6, 2, 0) Z. Arancini 3, E. Armit 3, J. Oberman 2, P. Casey 1, M. Steere 1
