US Field Hockey News

USA Women Draw with Great Britain; Japan Upsets Germany in International Atlantic Cup

Virginia Beach, Va. (Oct. 8) – The USA women played to a 1-1 draw with

Great Britain and surprising Japan upset Germany, 4-2, in the first day of action at field hockey's 2nd International Atlantic Cup.

"It's a tie," said USA coach Beth Anders reflecting the disappointment of her team. "I thought Great Britain played well. I think we definitely can play better and we will play better. We'll make some adjustments that we have to make and we'll move on.

In a battle of long-time rivals, Keli Smith (Selinsgrove,  Pa.) put the USA on top of Great Britain in the 13th minute when she slipped the ball past Britain keeper Katy Roberts. The lead would not last long however as Britain capitalized on a USA turnover for a short breakaway with Sarah Thomas depositing the final pass into the cage to tie the score at halftime.

Both team's missed opportunities in the second half.

Britain was awarded a penalty stroke with nine minutes remaining in the game when a crossing pass in front of the cage hit the USA defender Carrie Lingo in the foot. But USA goalkeeper Peggy Storrar (Mahopac, N.Y.) preserved the draw when she snuffed out Rachel Walker's stroke attempt with a diving save to the left.

The USA likewise couldn't convert on a string of four consecutive penalty corner attempts inside five minutes to play. After Roberts blocked the first three attempts, the series finally ended when Tracey Fuchs' lofty flick landed just on top of the cage.

The USA out shot England 23-14 with Storrar collecting 11 saves and Roberts stopping 14 shots for Great Britain.

"Our performance was fairly well considering it is only our third time playing together as a team," said Great Britain coach Mike Gilbert whose squad consists of athletes from England, Scotland and Wales. "It was a rather big progression from our exhibition game (a 4-0 USA victory in Philadelphia). I think it will serve as a confidence builder and that's great because we're focusing on development."

The International Atlantic Cup continues on Thursday with the USA taking on They'll bounce back," said Anders on Germany following the team's 4-2 loss to Japan i n the first game of the tournament. "They're a very strong team and they may start off not so good, but they always bounce back quickly. We expect some good competition tomorrow."

Japan 4, Germany 2

In the day's first game, Keiko Miura scored three unanswered goals to lift Japan to a shocking 4-3 victory over Germany.

"Obviously I wasn't very satisfied with our performance," said Germany coach Markus Weise, whose team had earned an impressive third place finish at last month's European Nations Cup. "Japan seemed much sharper than us. We seemed a little mentally and physically tired."

Germany fell behind early on a Naoko field goal in the third minute before rebounding to take a 2-1 lead following two penalty corner goals in a four-minute span by Natascha Keller and Fredericke Barth. 

Miura scored the first of her three straight penalty corner goals in the 21st minute to tie the game at halftime, and added her final two tallies midway through the second half to give Japan the victory.

United States 1, Great Britain 1
USA: Keli Smith (13:00, FG)
GBR: Sarah Thomas (24:00, FG)

USA Starters: Kristen McCann, Peggy Storrar (GK), Tara Jelley, Tracey Larson Tracey Fuchs, Katie Beach, Keli Smith, Jill Reeve, Carrie Lingo, Kate Barber, Dina Rizzo

Reserves: Kelli Gannon, Abbey Woolley, Rachel Barger

Great Britain Starters: Katy Roberts, Jennie Bimson, Vikki Bunce, Kath Gray, Sarah Thomas, Louise Carroll, Rhona Simpson, Crista Cullen, Rachel Walker,    Sarah Blanks

Reserves: Linda Clement, Anne Panter, Frances Houslop, Cheryl Valentine

Japan 4, Germany 2
JPN: Naoko Saito (3:00, FG)
GER: Natascha Keller (5:00, PC)
GER: Fredericke Barth (9:00, PC)
JPN: Keiko Miura (21:00, PC)
JPN: Keiko Miura (45:00, PC)
JPN: Keiko Miura (52:00, PC)

JAPAN
Starters: Rie Terazono (GK), Keiko Miura, Yukari Yamamoto, Sachimi Iwao, Chie Kimura, Sakae Morimoto, Naoko Saito, Akiko Kitada, Tomomi Komori

Reserves: Yuka Ogura, Kayo Soga, Rika Ishida

GERMANY
Starters: Yvonne Frank (GK), Mandy Haase, Nadine Ernsting-Krienke, Anneke Bohmert, Natascha Keller, Fredericke Barth, Silke Muller, Cornelia Reiter, Marion Rodewald, Anke Kuhn, Franziska Gude

Reserves: Nina Kramer, Alexandra Kollmar, Kerstin Hoyer, Miriam Schmid, Eileen Hoffman

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