Crossovers Near at WMH World Cup Nottingham, O-40 Men Fall to Spain, O-35 Women Draw Netherlands & O-40 Women Top Ghana

NOTTINGHAM, England - The U.S. O-40 Men's Masters Team played Spain on Wednesday in a tough loss at the 2022 World Masters Hockey (WMH) World Cup in Nottingham, England. The U.S. Women's Masters Teams saw action on Thursday, with the O-40 topping Ghana, 1-0, and the O-35 finishing in a 1-1 draw against The Netherlands.

The U.S. O-40 Women's Masters Team came out strong against Ghana in their match Thursday, scoring in the 5th minute with what would prove to be the game winning goal in a 1-0 victory.

USA's first quarter play was characterized by a patient press which created turnovers and counterattack opportunities in the midfield. One such turnover lead to the lone goal for the day when Mimi Smith (Columbia, Md.) intercepted a ball in the midfield and sent a deep split pass to Jennifer Judy (Newark, Del.). Judy received the ball cleanly on the move and carried it smoothly upfield, drawing defenders, before laying it off for Ruth Golley (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) who quickly moved it across the face of the goal, sending it home on a lifted reverse sweep.

The following few minutes saw a continued flurry of attacking chances for USA, including a connection from M. Smith to Golley for another shot close to goal, and a hard shot from the top of the circle by Colleen Connors (Luzerne, Pa.). As play settled for the remainder of the quarter and USA displayed great possession with patient transfers around the backfield and low midfield by Uli Reinhardt (Ann Arbor, Mich.), Liz Wood (Phoenix, Ariz.), Brenna Colosi (Lancaster, Pa.) and Whin Sylla (Bryn Athyn, Pa.).

Back and forth midfield action dominated the second quarter between Ghana and tUSA, leading to scoring chances on both sides. Golley created another close look and earned an attacking penalty corner in the 21st minute; while Ghana countered with a solid attack at the top of the circle that was cleanly jabbed away by M. Smith.

The third quarter played out similarly to the second, dominated by back and forth midfield play with close chances at both ends. USA had a spectacular look at goal in the 44th minute when Colosi played a strong ball out of the back to M. Smith, who smoothly received the ball on the move and played it off to Haley Dervinis (Philadelphia, Pa.), whose shot narrowly missed the cage. Ghana countered with their own attack seconds later, culminating with a shot on goal that was deflected high and wide by goalkeeper Lacey Pustizzi (Hingham, Mass.). Just seconds later on the counterattack Judy gave a great diving effort in the circle to slide the ball to Nicole Ketterer (El Cerrito, Calif.) for another close chance at goal.

The red, white and blue came out with speed and determination in the fourth frame, producing an early look at goal by Judy which was turned away by the Ghana goalkeeper. Not to be outdone, Ghana countered with their own attack with a series of circle penetrations culminating in a penalty corner in the 57th minute. USA's corner defensive unit adjusted well to a slip pass at the top of the circle, with Colosi calmly clearing the resulting reverse sweep shot out of the circle. USA's attack produced three attacking penalty corners in the final five minutes of the game but were unable to convert any of their chances. As the clock wound down, goalkeeper Pustizzi turned away one final attack from Ghana with a sliding save across the goal, ensuring the 1-0 victory.

The U.S. O-35 Women's Masters Team headed into their fourth game of the tournament on Thursday, this time facing The Netherlands.  A minute into the game, The Netherlands were awarded a penalty corner, but couldn’t convert on the opportunity.  After that, USA maintained intense on-ball pressure, which broke up attempts by The Netherlands to dribble up the pitch or make clean passes. Sustained possession and numerous offensive rushes for the red, white and blue caused the Oranje to commit an egregious foul on Lauren Sertich (East Warpole, Mass.) well outside of the circle, giving USA their first penalty corner of the game.  A perfectly executed set piece play saw Patti Gillern (Medford, N.J.) take a quick shot and find the back of the goal, giving USA a 1-0 lead. The rest of the half saw USA defenders Lisa Lohre (San Francisco, Calif.) and Janelle Benner (Lititz, Pa.) execute precise passing in the backfield to initiate offensive drives up the field. 

The second half of the game had lots of possession time for USA and multiple circle penetrations for both teams, but neither were able to convert on the opportunities. Being down by one goal in the fourth quarter, The Netherlands ramped up their intensity and were awarded multiple penalty corners, but USA held strong and the Oranje were unable to capitalize on their attempts. With only seconds remaining in the game, The Netherlands were awarded a penalty corner, but the ball was kicked away by USA goalkeeper Heather Long (Pottstown, Pa.). The Netherlands immediately regained possession after the set play, and with 3 seconds remaining, hit the ball from outside the circle to a teammate standing at the far left post who redirected it in with no time left on the clock to tie the game 1-1.

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.