Tenacious USWNT Loses to No. 1 Netherlands in FIH Hockey Pro League

AMSTELVEEN, Netherlands – At Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands, the No. 15 U.S. Women’s National Team took on No. 1 ranked and home team the Oranje in their first FIH Hockey Pro League meeting of the weekend. Scoreless after the first quarter, USA maintained tenacious on defense and limited the Netherlands’ chances but fell 3-0.

 

USA started with the first circle entry of the game but were unable to find an outcome. The Netherlands dominated the resuming possession, producing the only opportunities on frame in the quarter. In the 2nd minute, it looked like the Oranje took an early lead but after an official review a Dutch athlete broke the circle on the penalty corner. On the retake, the Netherlands’ shot went wide but they maintained control looking to get on the scoreboard. Behind the leadership of goalkeeper Kelsey Bing (Houston, Texas), USA defended away another three penalty corners, two of which were stopped by flyers Haley Randall (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Amanda Magadan (Randolph, N.J.), to come out of the quarter scoreless.

 

The second frame started with the Oranje moving quickly into their offensive end. Although USA continued their tight marking and solid defensive work deep in the circle, there was no doubt the Netherlands’ offensive threats would eventually find the holes. The home team broke the deadlock three minutes in when Freeke Moes scored on a low angle backhand. This lead was extended in the 25th minute off a penalty corner. Bing made the initial stop but the second chance was scored by Fiona Morgenstern. Double turnovers kept haunting USA as they struggled to get possession up field as they went into halftime trailing 2-0.

 

USA stayed with their game plan of remaining firm in the defensive end in the third quarter. The Netherlands was persistent and buried another in the 40th minute. Frédérique Matla used skill to weave into the circle and passed it under her arm to Morgenstern for the finish. The red, white and blue didn’t relax their pressure and also did not allow the Orange to score another goal for the remainder of the game. The Netherlands did have a few close chances in the final minutes of the third when Yibbi Jansen and Lidewij Welten tested Bing but she came up with some clutch saves.

 

In the fourth quarter, the Netherlands kept dominating the midfield channels to create the offensive threats, but USA kept them scoreless. A close chance came in the 48 th minute when Joosje Burg got a touch in front of Bing that went just wide. Later, Matla and Welten put shots on frame but again, Bing was there to deny the attempts. USA was tested one final time with 16 seconds remaining as the Netherlands earned a penalty corner, but Bing came up with the stop as the red, white and blue fell 3-0.

 

“It’s always tough”, said Bing, when asked what it’s like to play the world No. 1 team. “You always expect crowds like this when you play Holland in Holland. We just have to play into our game play a little bit more.”

 

“I saw marking improvement in the second half. We changed some of our press and fixed some of our outlets and were actually able to attack. Hopefully we can get some more attacking opportunities [tomorrow] and put our best foot forward.”

 

Following the game, the Netherlands Xan de Waard was named Player of the Match.

 

Today’s contest marked career milestones for USA athletes Sanne Caarls (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands) and Fusine Govaert (Bedford, N.Y.) who both played in their first international cap for Team USA.

 

In less than 24 hours, the U.S. Women’s National Team will return to action tomorrow to take on No. 1 Netherlands in their second game of the double-header weekend at 10:30 a.m. ET. For more information, visit the FIH Hockey Pro League Event Page.

 

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