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POREČ, Croatia – No. 9 U.S. Women’s National Indoor Team took on No. 26 Croatia in their second pool game of the 2025 FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup. Behind a solid first half performance, USA topped the hosts 6-3.
The match started static with both teams closing off attacking lanes. Midway through, USA got on the board when Erin Matson (Chadds Ford, Pa.) extended to get a touch on a through ball that set Charly Bruder (Malvern, Pa.) up for the finish. A minute later, Abby Burnett (Zionsville, Pa.) sent a cross court ball off the boards that Reese D’Ariano (West Chester, Pa.) picked up and beat the goalkeeper. Croatia cut the margin to 2-1 in the 8th minute after capitalizing on a deep intercept with a lot of forward space.
The opening minute into the second frame was action packed. First Croatia saw a hard shot touched by goalkeeper Liz Tamburro (Phoenixville, Pa.) that went off the post. Immediately following, D’Ariano used speed to break through and found Sofia Ferri (Phoenixville, Pa.) on the overlap, but her shot was deflected wide by Croatia goalkeeper Tea Andričić. In the 12th minute, D’Ariano made it 3-1 after converting on a penalty corner. Within a 2-minute span, Croatia had three set pieces denied, with the first two blocked by Tamburro. USA brought it to 4-1 in the 19th minute when D’Ariano threaded a ball from the right to left that found Annika Herbine (Macungie, Pa.) off the post for the finish.
It took until 7 minutes into the third period before the first true circle action took place when Croatia earned a set piece. Fortunately the shot went wide as the quarter concluded with the score going unchanged.
The final frame saw each side trade two goals apiece. The first came for USA in the 35th minute when Bruder drove the left side and Matson was there to reverse it into the goal. Three minutes later, Croatia was on the front foot and after seeing back-to-back penalty corners denied, Lucija Čepo scored to bring it to 5-2. Second later, Matson notched her second on an open net. Croatia had the final tally when they scored off a penalty corner through Lucija Nizek to make the final 6-3.
At the conclusion of the game, Erin Matson was named Player of the Match for her two goals.
The Eagles have their final pool game tomorrow when they take on No. 8 Belgium at 11:00 a.m. ET. The other two pools wrap up play on February 6 with the top 8 teams from across the three pools qualifying for the quarterfinals, while the remaining teams will play in the 9-12 position playoffs. All matches from the event can be live streamed free on FIH.Hockey.
For more information on the 2025 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup, visit the event page.
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