USWNT Comes from Behind to Top New Zealand in 3 Nations Tournament
DUNEDIN, New Zealand – The No. 12 U.S. Women’s National Team opened the 3 Nations Tournament with a 2-1, come-from-behind victory over host No. 9 New Zealand, sealed by a late goal in the 57th minute. The tightly contested, well-structured match saw the United Eagles prevail in the closing stages.
USA started quick by producing three penalty corners in succession inside the 2nd minute but unfortunately couldn’t get a shot on frame. Two minutes later, Hope Rose picked off a New Zealand outlet which led to a USA goal, but it was called back. Both sides saw equal shares of possession as the first quarter concluded scoreless.
One minute inside the second frame USA quickly transitioned from defense to attack that led to a good look by Phia Gladieux. Midway through the period, the Black Sticks converted on their first penalty corner by going back to inserter Hannah Cotter who slipped it past goalkeeper Kelsey Bing.
Five minutes after the halftime break momentum shifted in favor of the United Eagles. First a set piece was won by Sanne Caarls and although no outcome was found on the two chances, USA kept threatening. In the 37th minute, Caroline Ramsey sent a long ball toward the circle that was deflected by Emma DeBerdine and picked up by Makenna Webster in front of the goalkeeper. The scramble resulted in Webster winning USA a penalty stroke that Ramsey stepped up and scored to level the game at 1-1.
The early minutes of the final quarter saw the United Eagles put the Black Sticks under a lot of pressure. In the 57th minute, USA broke the deadlock when Maddie Zimmer intercepted an overhead and slipped it ahead to Abby Tamer who swept it in to give the red, white and blue the 2-1 lead.
USA withstood late attack from New Zealand and defended two penalty corners to hold on for the opening win.
Key Moments:
2’ Maddie Zimmer won USA their first penalty corner, which led to three opportunities in succession
4’ Hope Rose picked off New Zealand’s outlet which led to a USA goal, but it was called back
8’ New Zealand with a long sweep into their circle that was deflected just wide
16’ Great full-field transition finished with a good look by Phia Gladieux
19’ New Zealand’s Holly Pearson was issued a green card
23’ New Zealand converted on their first penalty corner by going back to inserter Hannah Cotter who scored, 1-0
26’ Backhand shot by Abby Tamer
35’ Sanne Caarls won USA a set piece
37’ Caroline Ramsey scored a penalty stroke to even the game, 1-1
39’ Hard foul outside the circle is upgraded to a New Zealand penalty corner. Kelsey Bing made the save off the second attempt
42’ Claire Danahy was taken to the turf outside the circle and earned USA a penalty corner
57’ Maddie Zimmer intercepted an overhead and set up Abby Tamer to score the game winner, 2-1
58’ New Zealand had back-to-back penalty corners
Noteworthy:
- USA's Makenna Webster earned her first internatonal cap, as well as the start
- The last time USA played New Zealand was this past July when they hosted them in a two-game series and won both contests, 3-0
Thoughts from Head Coach David Passmore: "I thought we played some great attacking and flowing hockey and were fast on the break but struggled to find the final pass. It’s deflating going down when the opposition scores their first penalty corner, but we were able to find a way, turn it around and, I think, dominate in the second half. We won and scored on the penalty stroke in credit to our aggressive defending to level the game. Momentum was in our favor, and we found better combination play in the final quarter which resulted in the counter that Maddie passed the ball to Abby to score.
There were some great individual performances today, especially debutant Makenna, and it’s good to have Ashley steadying the ship at the back. If our final pass had been better we would have made life easier for ourselves. We can take the areas we will work on and improve into tomorrow’s match against Japan.”
Next Up: The USWNT will play their second game of the 3 Nations Tournament later this evening (due to the time zone difference in New Zealand) at 10:30 p.m. ET against No. 11 Japan. All games can be streamed on HockeyNZ.TV (PPV).
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