Rome, Italy - July 21 - Despite another strong effort on player advantages and solid play from two meters the USA Women's Senior National Team fell to Russia 11-10 earlier today in their second match of the FINA World Championships. The women now stand at 1-1 in Group B action with Greece looming on Thursday in their final match of group play.
In this contest it was Russia--winners over the USA in the recent FINA World League Super Final--that struck first, scoring the games first two goals to open up a 2-0 lead. The United States rallied back when Heather Petri (Orinda, CA/California) got the team on the board at the 2:49 mark in the first period. From there the United States went inside to Moriah van Norman (San Diego, CA/USC) and the center put the ball away for a tie game at 2-2. Russia answered moments later to take a 3-2 lead but that was countered by a score from Alison Gregorka (Ann Arbor, MI/Stanford) with just 55 seconds left.
The scoring was not done yet in the first period as Russia answered the USA goal with a score of their own to re-take the lead at 4-3 with 31 seconds remaining. However the United States would answer last in this period as Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC) celebrating her 22nd birthday lit the proverbial lamp to tie the game at 4-4 going to the second quarter. Just two minutes in the second quarter and Craig answered the bell again connecting on a shot to give Team USA the lead for the first time at 5-4.
Russia came back to tie the game at 5-5 as the see-saw battle rolled along. The two teams would cool off for the next four minutes until Brittany Hayes (Santa Ana, CA/USC) score a goal with 2:32 remaining in the period for a 6-5 USA lead. That was built upon courtesy of Kelly Rulon (Point Loma, CA/UCLA) as she scored moments later for a 7-5 lead going into halftime. Russia had an opportunity towards the end of the half to draw closer on a penalty shot but the attempt sailed wide right.
The start of the third quarter saw Russia immediately erase the United States lead as they scored two goals within a span of two minutes to knot the contest at 7-7. At the 5:35 mark the United States re-took the lead as Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, CA/USC) put home the score for an 8-7 advantage. After Russia tied the game at 8-8 Team USA answered again following a Russian exclusion. At the two minute mark in the third period van Norman called for a quick pass following the kick out and put the ball home on the doorstep for a 9-8 lead.
Again a lead would not last when Russia skipped home a shot with just :37 remaining in the period. Not to be outdone Team USA answered with just eight seconds in the period courtesy of Tanya Gandy (San Diego, CA/UCLA) scoring on a player advantage for a USA lead at 10-9. Unfortunately that would be the end of the scoring in this one for the United States.
Trailing 10-9 in the fourth Russia used consecutive player advantages to find the net and build an 11-10 lead at the 3:24 mark. The United States turned the ball over following a timeout with under a minute remaining and that appeared to be their best chance to tie. Russia was called for an exclusion with just one second remaining but a shot from Craig near mid-tank was hauled in by the Russian goalie to maintain the win in favor of Russia 11-10.
Craig and van Norman led the USA attack with 2 goals each while Betsey Armstrong worked the net for all four quarters recording nine saves. The United States was again solid on power plays going 8/12 while Russia was 4/9. Both teams missed their lone penalty shot opportunities. Next up will be a match against Greece at 7:40pm local Italy time on Thursday.
Scoring:
USA 10 (4, 3, 3, 0) K. Craig 2, M. van Norman 2, L. Wenger 1, K. Rulon 1, H. Petri 1, B. Hayes 1, T. Gandy 1, A. Gregorka 1
RUS 11 (4, 1, 4, 2)
Saves - USA - B. Armstrong - 9
6x5 - USA - 8/12 RUS - 4/9
Penalties - USA -0/1 RUS - 0/1
Flash Quotes
"You know what you’re going to get with them, they are a physical team, they are relentless with their press, but we did a decent job handling that. The problems were similar to last time we played them, defensively for us. We can't give up that many goals and expect to win games. Russia did a nice job but I felt like in a lot of ways we were in control of the game and so I think that make the loss a little bit more frustrating." Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, Team USA
"We didn't execute in the fourth quarter and that's crunch time. When we need to score a goal, we need to score a goal and when we need to make a stop, we need to make a stop. We did a nice job on the power play all game, but the most important time is in the fourth quarter." Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, Team USA
