Zagreb, Croatia - July 27 - The USA Cadet Women dispatched Romania 16-1 today at the World Aquatics U16 World Championships. Natalie Arata and Abby Billish led the offense with four goals each while goalkeepers Margaret Weber and Sophia Becker combined for five saves. Team USA concludes group play against Italy on Tuesday, July 28 at 4:00am pt. The match will stream live on the World Aquatics YouTube channel with live stats available on Microplus Timing Services.

The United States opened the scoring when Kate Bambury found the back of the net early. Juliana Horton scored the second of the day before back-to-back goals from Natalie Arata pushed the lead to four. With just under a minute left in the quarter, the Billish sisters connected on a counter attack when Claire assisted Abby for a 5-0 lead after one.

Abby Billish had the first word in the second period and then Arata connected again for a first half hat trick. Late in the period, Abby Billish connected on a power play for her third goal and McKenna Mack set the score at 9-0 before the break.

Team captain Paige Segesman rang the register to begin the third quarter and push the Americans to double digits. Midway through the third, Arata stepped up for a penalty shot and buried her fourth goal of the day for an 11-0 advantage.

In the final period, Bambury got things started and Abby Billish followed. Then, Mack put one away before Romania finally found the back of the net. From there, Claire Billish and Louise Walls put the finishing touches on the 16-1 win.

Team USA went 3/5 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties while Romania had went 0/1 on power plays with no penalties attempted.

Scoring - Stats
USA 16 (5, 4, 2, 5) N. Arata 4, A. Billish 4, K. Bambury 2, M. Mack 2, C. Billish 1, J. Horton 1, P. Segesman 1, L. Walls 1
ROU 1 (0, 0, 0, 1) A. Ciocan 1
Saves - USA - M. Weber 3, S. Becker 2 - ROU - T. Grigore 3, E. Mitroiu 1
6x5 - USA - 3/5 - ROU - 0/1
Penalties - USA - 1/1 - ROU - 0/0