Atherton, CA - August 11 - The USA Women began a summer home stand tonight with a 9-5 win over Australia. Tara Prentice scored three goals for the Americans while Christine Carpenter notched six saves in net. Team USA and Australia meet again tomorrow night at Independence High School in San Jose, CA at 7pm pt. The match will stream live on Overnght with live stats available from 6-8 Sports.

Just under two minutes in, Ryann Neushul struck first for the United States on a power play. Australia wasted no time with a quick response before Jenna Flynn netted a penalty shot to regain the lead. Prentice earned an exclusion and scored on the ensuing player advantage to give Team USA a 3-1 lead after the first.

Australia controlled the second from start to finish. The visitors got one back early before they leveled on a penalty shot midway through the quarter. With under one minute in the half, the Stingers took the lead for a 4-3 edge at the break.

Team USA flipped the script from the second quarter in the second half. Prentice knotted the score midway through the period prior to an Australian goal but that was all the visitors could manage. Flynn tied the score at 5-5 off excellent ball movement headed to the final frame.

In the fourth, it was all Team USA. Prentice started things off with her third of the night before the Americans earned an exclusion and Rachel Gazzaniga converted on the player advantage. Gazzaniga added another with an extra player and forced an Australian timeout. From there, Neushul finished what she started with a penalty shot conversion to confirm the 9-5 victory.

Team USA went 5/10 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties while Australia went 0/3 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties.

Scoring - Stats
USA 9 (3, 0, 2, 4) T. Prentice 3, J. Flynn 2, R. Gazzaniga 2, R. Neushul 2
AUS 5 (1, 3, 1, 0) D. Jackovich 2, T. Fasala 1, T. Kearns 1, A. Pamp 1
Saves - USA - C. Carpenter 6 - AUS - A. West 4, C. Durston 2
6x5 - USA - 5/10 - AUS - 0/3
Penalties - USA - 2/2 - AUS - 1/1