SAN RAMON, California, June 24. THE USA Women's Senior National Team and China got together at the Dougherty Valley Aquatic Center in San Ramon for the second of three meetings on Tuesday night. For the second straight game it was the visiting Chinese that claimed victory taking a 12-9 win over the United States. A close match was opened up in the fourth quarter by China who scored three unanswered goals to pull away for the victory.
Team USA got off to the good start as Anne Belden (Newport Beach, CA/Bruin) skipped a shot home to start the scoring at 1-0. China would answer shortly thereafter with a score to tie the game at 1-1 and then just minutes later they would go up 2-1 on a lob shot. Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/NYAC) answered for the United States with a tally as the shot clock was winding down to tie the game at 2-2. China would have the last word in the opening stanza when they found the net with 1:01 left in the period for a 3-2 advantage moving to the second.
In the second period the United States got their center play started when Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford) spun inside for a pretty shot and a tie game at 3-3. As they have all series China had an answer and retook the lead at 4-3. This was short lived when Belden came calling again on a nice delivery from Kelly Rulon (Point Loma, CA/NYAC) on a secondary break to even the match at 4-4. China closed the half on a high finding the net with just four seconds left in the period for a 5-4 advantage at intermission.
Just 48 seconds into the third quarter and Seidemann was back in action getting her own rebound and stuffing the ball into the cage for a 5-5 contest, her second of a team high three goals on the night. Over the next three minutes China would score twice to grab a 7-5 lead, but it wouldn't hold. Juliet Moss (San Jose, CA/SJ Splash) outworked her defender at two meters for a pretty goal and that was followed by Seidemann stepping outside and making it rain from distance for a 7-7 score with 2:42 left in the period. Thirty seconds later China had a rebuttal for an 8-7 lead but Team USA turned to their captain Brenda Villa (Commerce, CA/Commerce) who bounced home a skip shot to tie the match with 30 seconds remaining in the period. Yet again China would answer last in a period as with just one second on the clock they used a power play to perfection to grab a 9-8 lead headed to the decisive fourth quarter.
Determined to not be blanked in the fourth quarter yet again the United States struck the first blow on a player advantage as Villa took a quick delivery and again skipped it past the Chinese keeper for a 9-9 game. From there the USA offense stalled while China continued to find their groove. Consecutive power play goals put China up 11-9 with just under four minutes remaining. The back breaker came at the 3:09 mark as China scored again for a 12-9 lead that proved to be too insurmountable for the United States.
Team USA struggled on power plays going just 1-5 while China was nearly flawless at 5-6. Both squads missed their chances on penalties each going 0-1. Emily Feher (Santa Ana, CA/SoCal) went the distance in the cage for the United States posting seven saves.
The two teams are back in action on Thursday evening at Stanford University to close out their three game set. The match is set for 7pm at the Avery Aquatic Center and tickets will be available at the door.
Scoring:
USA – 9 (2, 2, 4, 1) M. Seidemann 3, A. Belden 2, B. Villa 2, C. Mathewson 1, J. Moss 1
CHN – 12 (3, 2, 4, 3)
Saves – USA – E. Feher – 7
6×5 – USA – 1-5 – CHN 5-6
Penalties – USA 0-1 – CHN 0-1
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