Walnut, CA - June 29 - The U.S. Women's Olympic Team wrapped up a two-game series with Italy with their second straight win, earning a 14-6 victory tonight at Mt. San Antonio College.
Jenna Flynn scored three goals and
Ashleigh Johnson recorded eight saves in net. Team USA now heads to the Bay Area for a two-game set with Hungary starting July 5 at Stanford University followed by July 9 at the University of California, Berkeley. Tickets for both matches are on sale by
clicking here. The match on July 5 will stream on Overnght.com at 6:30pm pt while the July 9 match will air on ESPNU and the ESPN app at 6pm pt.
It was a slow start to the match for both teams as neither side could find the cage early on. Italy broke through with the first tally of the match but Team USA delivered on two power-play strikes as part of a three-goal effort to take the lead after one. They followed that with the first three goals of the second quarter as
Maddie Musselman, Flynn and
Maggie Steffens all connected for a 6-2 edge. Leading 7-3 to open the second half, the United States took total control of the match with the first four goals of the period.
Emily Ausmus,
Jordan Raney,
Jovana Sekulic and
Jewel Roemer all scored to expand the cushion out to 11-3. Italy scored two of the next three to make it a 12-5 affair as action headed to the fourth.
Flynn hit on back-to-back goals to open the fourth as she scored on a power play and a penalty to make it a 14-5 match, equaling the score from Tuesday's night meeting in San Diego. Italy would add one more goal, but Team USA took this one going away at 14-6. The United States drew a host of power play tries, going 6/13 while Italy was 1/7. Team USA went 3/3 on penalties while Italy was 1/2 with one shot halted by Johnson.
Scoring -
Scoresheet
USA 14 (3, 4, 5, 2) J. Flynn 3, M. Steffens 2, J. Raney 2. J. Roemer 2, M. Musselman 1, T. Prentice 1, R. Fattal 1, E. Ausmus 1, J. Sekulic 1
ITA 6 (2, 1, 2, 1) R. Bianconi 3, S. Avegno 1, V. Palmeri 1, C. Marletta 1
Saves - USA - A. Johnson 8 - ITA - C. Banchelli 7
6x5 - USA - 6/13 - ITA - 1/7
Penalties - USA - 3/3 - ITA - 1/2
