NOTTINGHAM, England - On the third day of competition at the 2022 World Masters Hockey (WMH) World Cup in Nottingham, England, all three USA teams competed with the U.S. O-40 Women's Masters Team claiming a commanding win over Sri Lanka.

Sunday, August 14, 2022

O-40 Women 9 - 0 Sri Lanka

The U.S. O-40 Women's Masters Team came out fast and furious in Sunday’s match against Sri Lanka. The scoring started with the first penalty corner of the match. Inserter, Susan Mitchell (Penn Valley, Pa.), sent a smooth pass to the top where Elzeth Hetzler (Mountain Home, Texas) trapped the ball and led it perfectly for Mimi Smith (Columbia, Md.) to drive the ball into the back of the goal. It did not take long for USA to register a second goal, which developed during an attack and was finished by Mitchell. The first quarter was rounded out during a set penalty corner play, when Smith slipped a ball to captain Brenna Colosi (Lancaster, Pa.), who drove it into the boards.

The play evened out slightly in the second quarter. USA still controlled the game and maintained possession, finding the back of the cage one time. This time the penalty corner unit slipped the ball from Colosi back to the inserter, Mitchell, who one-timed the ball for the fourth goal of the game. The defense was steadfast not allowing a single shot in the first half under the direction of goalkeeper, Lacey Pustizzi (Hingham, Mass.)

The scoring frenzy continued in the third quarter, which began with a baseline run by Ruth Golley (Fountain Hills, Ariz.), who dumped it to the opposite post for Nicole Ketterer (El Cerrito, Calif.) to finish with a lift into the net. Golley then set up Mitchell for her third goal of the game. Next, Jennifer Judy (Newark, Del.) added her name to the scoresheet after receiving a pass from Uli Reinhardt (Ann Arbor, Mich.), who won the ball in the middle of the field, drove the circle and threaded the pass to Judy. Haley Dervinis (Philadelphia, Pa.) finished off the quarter with a brilliant shot from the top of the circle off a penalty corner.

The final quarter saw midfield play between the 25-yard lines. Golley ended the scoring with a great run to the circle, burying the ball past Sri Lanka’s goalkeeper. Staci Smith (Liberty, Maine), USA goalkeeper, minded the net for the red, white and blue in the second half while the stalwart defense allowed zero shots on goal.

Captain Colosi commented on the match, “We had a great opportunity to work together on possession and connection. Offense had the opportunity to shine, and they did! We were able to put the ball in the back of the cage and spread the scoring around.”

The final score of the match was 9-0. Next up, USA will face a fierce opponent in England, currently seeded at the top of the pool.

O-35 Women 0 - 1 Ireland

Coming off an exciting draw against South Africa, the U.S. O-35 Women's Masters Team fought hard against a relentless Ireland. Both teams made their presence known on the pitch from the first whistle. USA battled hard, only conceding one goal by Ireland early in the second half off a penalty corner.

USA had a number of attempts on goal throughout the game, including three successive penalty corners as time ran out in the first half but unfortunately Ireland held strong. Three cards were awarded to USA with two green, Janelle Benner (Lititz, Pa.) in the first quarter and Lisa Patrick (Seattle, Wash.) in the fourth frame, as well as one yellow to Katie Grant (Malvern, Pa.) in the fourth late in the game after USA substituted their goalkeeper with two and a half minutes remaining to add an additional field player.

Despite the tough loss, USA played with a calm, collected structure. The result leaves USA tied for fourth in their pool (with South Africa), as they eagerly await their match again Germany on Tuesday.

O-40 Men 0 - 4 Australia

Australia handed the U.S. O-40 Men’s Masters Team their first defeat of the event.

Stretching the field very wide and using a high ball pace, Australia kept possession of the ball and launched numerous attacks that an organized and hardworking USA defended well into the second quarter.

USA did not just pack the bus in the back, and were able to produce seven penalty corners. Several strong saves by both goalkeepers kept the score to 0-0 until the last five minutes of the first quarter.

A converted penalty corner and then a rebound strike after a save by goalkeeper David Eddie (Somerville, Mass.) in a span of two minutes provided a 2-0 lead for Australia.

The third quarter saw USA trade blows with Australia, beating them in circle penetrations and penalty corners. The direction of the game could have easily changed as three shots barely missed the frame.

With USA pushing further forward as the fourth quarter progressed, two more penalty corners by Australia in the final minutes of the game sealed the result.

Despite the lopsided score line, USA played high quality hockey in all of its lines against a mighty opponent, who likely to be challenging for the gold medal.

This year, the U.S. Master’s Program partnered with Bill.com, the U.S.-based financial services for small businesses company to support the women’s O-35 and O-40 teams as they head to Nottingham wearing the company’s logo on their uniforms.

“Bill.com is proud to partner with the USA Field Hockey Masters Teams as they move forward in Nottingham,” said Vinay Pai, Chief Technology Officer at Bill.com. “Our company’s mission is to make it simple to connect and do business. By supporting the players, we hope we can create those connections for a larger positive community impact.”

For more information on the Nottingham WMH World Cup, visit the event page and check out the Masters Website.

DATE	TIME	TEAM		TEAM	STREAM
Tues,. Aug. 16	4:00 AM	O-40 W	vs	England	Click Here
	12:00 PM	O-35 W	vs	Germany
Wed., Aug. 17	1:00 PM	O-40 M	vs	Spain
Thurs., Aug. 18	7:00 AM	O-40 W	vs	Ghana	Click Here
	9:00 AM	O-35 W	vs	Netherlands
Fri., Aug. 19	7:00 AM	O-40 M	vs	Malaysia
	11:00 AM	O-40 W	vs	Scotland
	1:00 PM	O-35 W	vs	Italy
Sat., Aug. 20	7:00 AM	O-40 M	vs	Argentina

All times in Eastern Time Zone

O-40 Women Earn Commanding Win on Day 3 of WMH World Cup Nottingham

Images Taken by Dave Buttery Photography

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