Singapore – July 19 – The USA Women's National Team advanced to the semifinal round at the World Aquatics World Championship following a 26-8 win over Japan.
Anna Pearson led an offensive explosion with five goals and was named player of the match.
Amanda Longan recorded nine saves through three quarters of work before
Isabel Williams came on to close things out, adding six saves including a penalty shot block. Team USA now advances to meet Greece in the semifinals on Monday at a time to be confirmed. Live streaming of all USA matches will be available on
Peacock (login required).
Team USA roared out of the gates to open the match against Japan going on a 6-0 run to start courtesy of goals from six different scorers. It was part of a larger 11 goal outburst in the opening eight minutes.
Ryann Neushul scored the first of her three goals on the evening to get things started followed by a power play goal from
Rachel Gazzaniga.
Emily Ausmus and
Jenna Flynn followed with counter attack strikes for a 4-0 lead.
Julia Bonaguidi and
Jewel Roemer capped the run with power play goals for a 6-0 lead. After Japan stopped the bleeding, Pearson came back with her first two goals of the match for an 8-1 edge. Japan added another goal but the trio of Neushul, Ausmus and Flynn scored again for an 11-2 lead after one.
That same trio had the first three goals of the second quarter as Neushul, Flynn and Ausmus made it 14-2 with 3:37 to go in the first half. After Japan scored it was Pearson again with the response, closing the half with two straight goals for a 16-3 lead at intermission. Team USA kept the pressure up in the second half as they delivered five more goals in the third quarter.
Tara Prentice opened the scoring, the first of her two goals in the period, to make it 17-3. Japan scored two of the next three to make a brief run but it was followed by goals from Pearson, Prentice and
Ella Woodhead for a 20-5 advantage going to the fourth.
The United States stayed consistent, adding five more goals in the fourth quarter. Japan scored first to open the quarter but Team USA never went long in this match without finding the cage. Flynn, Roemer and Prentice pushed the lead 24-6 with 4:16 remaining.
Ava Stryker scored next for Team USA, initially her shot was called off, but upon review the officials determined the goal was scored for a 25-6 tally. Bonaguidi closed the scoring for Team USA as they cruised to the 26-8 win. Team USA went 7/9 on power plays and 4/4 on penalties while Japan went 1/7 on power plays and 1/2 on penalties.
Scoring –
Stats
USA 26 (11, 5, 5, 5) A. Pearson 5, J. Flynn 4, E. Ausmus 4, R. Neushul 3, T. Prentice 3, J. Roemer 2, J. Bonaguidi 2, E. Woodhead 1, A. Stryker 1, R. Gazzaniga 1
JPN 8 (2, 1, 2, 3) E. Ura 2, A. Sunabe 2, F. Nishiyama 1, M. Inoue 1, M. Kobayashi 1, S. Fukuda 1
Saves – USA – A. Longan 9, I. Williams 6 – JPN - H. Inaba 5
6x5 – USA – 7/9 – JPN – 1/7
Penalties – USA – 4/4 – JPN 1/2
