KIRISHI, Russia, June 15. A year after having to settle for second place at the FINA World League Super Final, the USA Women's Senior National Team found themselves back in the Gold Medal position after a 9-6 win over Canada in the final. The win gives Team USA four World League titles in six years since the Women's World League began.
As for this game, it was Canada that started out with the early lead at 1-0, but that was quickly erased on goals by Tanya Gandy and Annika Dries. Team USA led 2-1 going into the second quarter, and built on that some 30 seconds into the period when Heather Petri lit the proverbial lamp for a 3-1 advantage. Canada battled back with consecutive goals to tie the game at 3-3, but Gandy would answer for the United States with a score, and it was 4-3 Team USA at halftime.
It was the third quarter where the United States began to pull away as the red, white, and blue strung together three consecutive goals. Lauren Wenger, Kelly Rulon, and Gandy all posted scores and with 4:14 to go in the period the USA were up 7-3. Canada tried to chip away closing to within 7-4, but USA always had an answer and they countered with two more goals from Wenger and Rulon to go up 9-4.
The score was 9-5 in favor of Team USA headed to the fourth and their defense would carry them the rest of the way. Canada would be held scoreless in the quarter until 1:14 remaining in the period, but by then it was far too late for a comeback. USA would pull away with the victory 9-6. Betsey Armstrong went the whole way in net discarding nine shots.
USA held Canada to just 1/7 on player advantages while they converted on 3/8 opportunities. Neither team earned a penalty chance. Next up for Team USA will be in the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy starting in mid-July.
Flash Quote: "It was a great game against Canada. We wanted to start out a little better than we did against Australia in the semifinal, we played great defense and that is what helped us win today. We are happy that we were able to win the World League here in Kirishi." Brenda Villa, Captain, Team USA
Scoring:
USA 9 (2, 2, 5, 0) T. Gandy 3, L. Wenger 2, K. Rulon 2, H. Petri 1, A. Dries 1
CAN 5 (1, 2, 2, 1)
Saves – USA – B. Armstrong 9
6×5 – CAN 1/7 — USA 3/8
Penalties – CAN 0/0 — USA 0/0
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