Perth, Australia - January 13 - The USA Women's National Team defeated Australia 10-5 earlier today in Perth.
Emily Ausmus and
Jordan Raney each recorded a hat trick to lead the way for the United States. Team USA will play Australia on Sunday morning at 5am et/2am 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 decent start in this one behind Ausmus and Raney as they led 2-1 after the opening period. Ausmus found the back of the net to begin the second quarter and then Fattal converted a 5m penalty shot to give the Americans a 4-1 edge. Australian Olympian Elle Armit scored for the hosts before
Tara Prentice added another for the United States prior to the half for a 5-2 lead.
As the third quarter began, Sienna Hearn started to seize the moment for the Australians. Hearn got back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to one (5-4) for the home team. Raney and
Denise Mammolito responded for the Americans at the end of the period, giving Team USA a 7-4 advantage after three periods. In the final frame, the United States put the game to bed powered by Raney and Prentice, who scored twice to open the quarter. The Americans got another goal late from Ausmus before Pippa Pedley scored in her national team debut for Australia, solidifying the 10-5 victory for Team USA.
"After the first game with the tie, our team had a lot of energy and we wanted to play our hardest. I feel like we both [USA and Australia] matched each other's energy tonight and it's always a toss up who's going to come up on top," Team USA goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson said postgame. "I'm loving the great competition and great water polo. It's fun to see our team grow every day, Australia's team grow every day, and also see who's up and coming. This is such a good tournament to experience, but also gain experience. To have this kind of crowd, to have this kind of energy, it's all building towards Paris."
Scoring -
Stats via Water Polo Australia
USA 10 (2, 3, 2, 3) E. Ausmus 3, J. Raney 3, T. Prentice 2, R. Fattal 1, D. Mammolito 1
AUS 5 (1, 1, 2, 1) S. Hearn 2, E. Armit 1, P. Casey 1, P. Pedley 1
