Spain Stings USA Women, 4-1 at the World Cup

PERTH, Australia – Spain scored four second half goals to down the U.S women’s field hockey team, 4-1, on the sixth day of the Women’s World Cup.

The loss drops the U.S. to 1-3-0 and keeps the U.S. team in sixth place in the 8-team Pool A, while Spain improves to 2-1-1. Australia and Netherlands began the day at the top of Pool A with 3-0 records.

“The first half I was quite pleased with,” said U.S. coach Tracey Belbin. “But there are certain things you just can’t do against a team like Spain, and I thought we were very undisciplined. They are talented and they’re quick and we opened up lots of gaps for them.”

After a scoreless first half, Erdoitza Goikoetxea finally connected on the third of three straight penalty corner attempts to give her team a 1-0 lead.  Spain then erupted for two field goals by Nuria Camon and Silvia Munoz in a three-minute span to extend its lead to 3-0.

“The first goal really changed the tempo of the game,” said Belbin. “We sagged back and played off the back foot and you can’t afford to do that against any team here.”

The U.S. finally got on the scoreboard in the 52nd minute when Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.) tipped in a Tracey Fuchs penalty corner hit for her third goal of the tournament. Spain answered quickly, however, as Luci Lopez finished the scoring a minute later with a slicing hit from the field.

The U.S. continues pool play on Saturday against South Africa before taking on England on Monday.

“We can still battle it out with the other teams,” said Belbin. “We obviously have to win the majority of our games. We have South Africa tomorrow and that’s going to be very difficult, but basically we need to salvage what we can.”

 
Spain 4, USA 1

ESP: Erdoitza Goikoetxea (pc, 40:00)
ESP: Nuria Camon (fg, 47:00)
ESP: Silvia Munoz (fg, 50:00)
USA: Kate Barber (pc, 52:00)
ESP: Luci Lopez (fg, 53:00)
 
Spain Starters:  Maria Rosa, Nuria Moreno, Maria Carmen Martin, Silvia Munoz, Luci Lopez, Mar Feito, Maider Telleria, Elena Urkizu, Erdoitza Goikoetxea, Nuria Camon, Ana Perez

Subs: Marta Prat, Monica Rueda, Silvia Bonastre, Maria Romagosa, Raquel Huertas

USA Starters: Peggy Storrar (Mahopac, N.Y., gk), Tracey Fuchs (Centereach, N.Y.), Antoinette Lucas (Richmond, Va.), Katie Beach (West Lawn, Pa.), Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.), Carla Tagliente (Corland, N.Y.), Jill Reeve (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.), Kate Barber (West Chester, Pa.), Kristen McCann (Allentown, Pa.), Tara Jelley (Greenfield, Mass), Carrie Lingo (Rehoboth Beach, Del.)

Subs:: Mimi Smith (Virginia Beach, Va.), Melanie Meerschwam (Princeton, N.J.), Tracey Larson (Morrisville, Pa.), Kelli Gannon (Escondido, Calif.), Tracey Larson (Morrisville, Pa.)    

DNP:  Kim Miller (Virginia Beach), Jill Dedman (Orange, Conn.), Jenny Everett (Rutland, Vt.)