Alexandroupolis, Greece - January 14 - The USA Senior Women's National Team fell behind early and could not catch up late as they lost to Spain 11-16 to open play at the World Cup Division 1 tournament.
Tara Prentice was one of four players with two goals for the Americans while
Amanda Longan recorded ten saves in net. Team USA returns to the pool on Wednesday when they take on Hungary at 8:00am et/5:00am pt. The match will stream LIVE on
Recast PPV with LIVE statistics courtesy of
World Aquatics.
Early on in this one, Senior National Team newcomer Chrissy Flynn stepped up and deposited her first goal from five meters to open the scoring. That would be all the United States could muster as Spain piled on six goals for a 6-1 lead after one quarter of play. Spain opened the second period with another score before Maryn Dempsey scored her first goal at this level for Team USA. The sides continued trading goals with Flynn, Allison Cohen, and Natalia Szczerba (team debut) scoring for Team USA before Prentice netted one late but Spain held a 10-6 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, Dempsey and Cohen each put one away for the Americans opposite a trio of Spanish goals to set the score at 13-8 in favor of Spain heading to the final frame. The fourth period saw Maggie Ryan score her first goal in her team debut before Charlotte Raisin and Prentice dented the twine. It was not enough in this one, as three more Spanish goals gave the Olympic champions a 16-11 victory.
The United States went 3/6 on power plays and 4/5 on penalties while Spain went 4/8 on power plays and 3/4 on penalties.
Scoring -
Stats
USA 11 (1, 5, 2, 3) T. Prentice 2, A. Cohen 2, C. Flynn 2, M. Dempsey 2, C. Raisin 1, M. Ryan 1, N. Szczerba 1
ESP 16 (6, 4, 3, 3) P. Prats Rodriguez 3, A. Ruiz Barril 2, E. Ruiz Barril 2, C. Penalver Granero 2, P. Camus 2, P. Leiton Arrones 2, B. Ortiz 1, N. Perez Vivas 1, P. Crespi Barriga 1
Saves: USA - A. Longan 10 - ESP - M. Terre 4, E. Jimenez 2
6x5: USA - 3/6 - ESP - 4/8
Penalties: USA - 4/5 - ESP - 3/4
