2005 IFWLA World Cup Game Recaps

Friday, July 1, 2005

SEMIFINALS: No. 2 UNITED STATES 13, No. 3 ENGLAND 3

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The second-seeded United States, the four-time defending IFWLA World Cup champion, earned the right to go for a record fifth straight title with a 13-3 defeat of third-seeded England in today's semifinals before 4,600 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The U.S. (6-0-1) will defend its title on Saturday afternoon against top-seeded Australia for a third straight time in the gold medal game.

England (4-3) took an early 2-1 lead just 11 minutes into the first half. The U.S. then scored nine unanswered goals to take a commanding 10-3 lead. The England offense was held scoreless by the U.S. defense for better than 35 minutes.

"We were a little tense when we started, but then they settled down," said U.S. head coach Sue Stahl. "We're not done yet, but I guess we can breathe a sigh of relief  because we're in the finals."

Crista Samaras scored a game-high four goals for the U.S. to garner player of the match honors for the second consecutive game. Quinn Carney, Kelly Amonte Hiller and Lauren Aumiller all scored three goals apiece in the victory.

England's Alisa Scott tied the game at 1 just 9:30 into the first half. England took the 2-1 lead two minutes later when the United States, which failed on its first three clear attempts, inadvertently scored an own goal. England veteran Sarah Butt scored the only second half goal for England at the 14:44 mark.

"I think they can be rattled," England head coach Lois Richardson said of the U.S. "They're like a machine, robotic even, and you've just got to stop that."

The United States outshot England 27-17 and led 8-2 at the half.

The 2005 IFWLA World Cup championship will air live on CSTV (College Sports Television, channel 610 on DirecTV and Eurosport). England will play in the bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon at Noon against No. 4 Canada.

SEMIFINALS: No. 1 AUSTRALIA 22, No. 4 Canada 7

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Top-seeded Australia (6-0-1) received a strong team effort in its 22-7 IFWLA World Cup semfinal victory against fourth-seeded Canada as 10 different Australian players scored a goal before 2,100 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Australia advances to Saturday's gold-medal game where it will face a familiar foe in the United States. The U.S. and Australia have met in the last two gold medal games. The U.S. has won four straight World Cups.

Australia's Jen Adams scored four goals and tallied a game-high six assists for a 10-point performance. Courtney Hobbs was the leading goal scorer for the Australians with five goals. Sascha Newmarch was tabbed player of the match.

"We have no right to success, nor does the U.S.," said Australia head coach Max Madonia. "At times,we did not play with the intensity as required. It's just about adjusting."

Canada (3-4) trailed 9-3 late in the first half before putting together a 4-1 run to go into halftime trailing by four, 10-6. Canada's Crysti Foote scored her second goal 3:10 into the second half on a free position to pull Canada within 10-7. The Australian offense took over from there, and reeled off 12 unanswered goals to end the game.

"We gave them a good 40 minutes, then we let up, and they took over," said Canadian goalkeeper Kristen Haldeman, who made 11 saves. "They're a team which, if you give them a chance, they will capitalize."

The 2005 IFWLA World Cup championship will air live on CSTV (College Sports Television, channel 610 on DirecTV and Eurosport). Canada will play in the bronze-medal game Saturday at 12 noon against No. 3 England.

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7th/8th PLACE GAME: No. 7 SCOTLAND 17, No. 9 CZECH REPUBLIC 3

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Scotland's Valerie Houston concluded her sixth and final IFWLA World Cup by earning player of the match honors with four goals and one assist in seventh-seeded Scotland's 17-3 victory over ninth-seeded Czech Republic at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Scotland finishes the 2005 IFWLA World Cup in seventh place with a 5-3 record. The Czech Republic, making its second World Cup appearance and first since 1993, finishes 8th overall with a record of 2-6.

Scotland led 6-1 at the half before outscoring the Czech Republic 11-2 in the second half. Kate Boxer and Nikki Curry both scored three goals apiece for Scotland, which was drubbed yesterday in its quarterfinal against the United States.

"We really needed to regain ourselves after that," said head coach Kim Chorosiewski. "We wanted to walk away knowing that what we've worked on the last two years still works. We need more breadth over there, more development from the youth on up."

Scotland's Amanada McKie scored two goals and passed out a team-high three assists.

The Czech Republic was led offensively by Eva Chudlarska's two goals and Barbara Klimoszkova's one goal and one assist. Czech Republic goalie Daniela Drevikovska made a game-high 12 saves in between the pipes. Scotland outshot the Czech Republic 40-9.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Anika Altenhain scored two of her team-high three goals to key a game-ending 6-0 run as eighth-seeded Germany pulled away from 10th-seeded New Zealand, 13-4, to capture ninth place at the 2005 IFWLA World Cup at sunny Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Germany concludes the event 3-4, while New Zealand, competing in its first-ever World Cup, finished 0-7.

"I almost felt like we had to come back just to change the momentum," said German head coach Denise Wescott. "The nice thing from our group was we started running the ball better. Altenhain came off the bench, scored a couple of goals and gave us momentum."

Clinging to a 7-4 lead midway through the second half, Germany's Carola Eyssell fed Marion Klein for a goal at 13:23. At 11:17, New Zealand's Nicola Vincent was whistled for a yellow-red card, and her team was forced to play with one less field player for five minutes. The Germans (3-4) received a gift in the form of an own goal, but they took full advantage of the penalty by scoring three extra-player goals. Sahra Al-Dujaili tallied unassisted at 8:30 before Altenhain scored twice within 23 seconds to put the game away.

Germany had bolted to a 5-0 lead in the first seven minutes, thanks in part to two goals and an assist by Nora Schroeder. But New Zealand stemmed the tide and battled back through the remainder of the first half. Natalie Turner scored a team-high three goals, two coming courtesy of assists from sister Michelle Turner. The sisters' connection with 13 seconds left before the break brought New Zealand within 7-4.

Natalie Turner earned player of the match honors in the losing effort for New Zealand, which showed marked improvement according to head coach Adrian Burns.

"A huge improvement from beginning to end, but we've played a lot of this before," Burns said. "It's just the tournament, the teams, the travel - it all got to us early."

World Cup Game Recap Archive
• Thursday, June 30
• Wednesday, June 29
• Tuesday, June 28
• Monday, June 27
• Sunday, June 26
• Saturday, June 25
• Friday, June 24
• Thursday, June 23