US Field Hockey News

USA Junior National Team wins Summer League Crown

The USA Junior National Team captured the 2004 USA Field Hockey Summer League Title in a weather-shortened penalty stroke victory over  the Tidewater Tempest at the USA Field Hockey National Training Center in Virginia Beach.

In a game played in a deluge of rain and under the threat of lightning, the championship game was called late in the first half with the score still knotted at 0-0. The teams then went into an immediate penalty stroke competition to determine the winner.

After connecting on four strokes each in the first round, Lauren Crandall and Amy Stopford converted the USA Juniors' first two attempts in the sudden-death round while Katie Jo Gerfen missed her attempt for the Tempest to give the USA Juniors their first Summer League crown.

Headed by USA Junior National Team coach Tracey Fuchs, the USA Juniors entered the championship weekend after winning the regular season title with a 9-4-1 record. The Tempest earned the number three seed in the semifinals with a 6-5-3 record in the regular season.

The USA Juniors eanred their spot in the championship game with a 2-1 win over #4 seeded Metro Ruch on a pair of  Lauren Powley (pictured above) goals. Powley put the USA on top late in the first half on a blast past Rush keeper Megan Allen and then countered Leah Gieb's score for the Rush with a second goal midway through the second half to give the USA Juniors the victory.

In the other semifinal, the Tempest needed a sudden-death round of penalty strokes to finally end the Southern Charm's five-year hold on the league championship. Last season's runner-up, the Tempest jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Anna Rogers and Autumn Welsh before the Charm sent the game into extra time with goals by Cindy Werley and the equalizer from Kelly Dostal in the 51st minute.

The semifinal evening also featured an exhibition game featuring the USA Residency/Select squad against a team of Summer League All-Stars, won by the USA 4-2.