O-35 Women Finish 5th, O-40 Women Claim 7th & O-40 Men Place 8th at 2022 WMH World Cup Nottingham

NOTTINGHAM, England - The 2022 World Masters Hockey (WMH) World Cup in Nottingham, England, concluded on Sunday and the U.S. O-35 Women's Masters Team finished 5th, U.S. O-40 Women's Masters Team claimed 7th and U.S O-40 Men's Masters Team placed 8th. 

The U.S. O-40 Women's Masters Team played a doozy of a match against Scotland on Friday. In their final pool play game, the team drew 1-1 after a lengthy game which included a 30 minute delay for an injured Scotland player to receive medical attention.

The starting lineup for USA came out with exceptional possession skills and a dominant use of space from end line to end line. This attack mentality afforded the team some early chances in the circle and in the 8th minute, Ruth Golley (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) received a long ball from Mimi Smith (Columbia, Md.), splitting in behind the defense for a 1v1 with the goalkeeper. Golley’s finish was clinical, giving the USA an early 1-0 lead. As Scotland settled in, they advanced their attack in pairs, frustrating USA's defense with a series of penalty corners and high pressure in the final minutes of the first quarter

After a quick regroup, and with defender Uli Reinhardt (Ann Arbor, Mich.) driving distribution from the backfield, USA were back in Scotland’s defensive circle in the first minute of the second quarter. Again, Scotland rallied and found ways to test Staci Smith (Liberty, Maine) and USA's defense, but to no avail. Going into halftime with a one goal lead, the team took the extended break to strategize and stay loose while the injured player was getting attention. After a significant delay, they continued the back and forth circle play from the first half.

Lacey Pustizzi (Hingham, Mass.) had a standout second half performance in goal, making countless saves and keeping Scotland at bay until the 55th minute when they finally broke through and tied the game. Riding a wave of emotion after just having a goal called back, USA carried Pustizzi's momentum into the fourth quarter and gave it all they had to sustain attack presence and possession. With Scotland on their heels, time expired to conclude the fiery contest in a 1-1 draw.

The U.S. O-35 Women's Masters Team against Italy game started with a bang: a penalty corner by Italy in the 3rd minute which was converted. Rudely woken up by this, USA pushed hard and Katie Grant (Malvern, Pa.) equalized the score in the 11th minute with a tip-in off a penalty corner shot by Pattie Gillern (Medford, N.J.). For the rest of the quarter, USA pressed hard but could not capitalize on their advantages, including a few penalty corners late in the frame. 

USA started the second quarter with unrelenting pressure on Italy that resulted in a few penetrations into the circle. Italy rarely managed to get out of their own half until the last few minutes. Coming off a draining and heartbreaking game against The Netherlands the previous day, USA seemed a bit tired, which manifested itself in a lack of focus in ball reception and passing. A series of penalty corners and long corners for USA late in the half were unsuccessful.

In the third quarter, Italy managed to put pressure on USA's defense and penetrated into the circle several times. A short corner in the 37th minute went too high. In the 38th minute, USA performed a beautiful fast combination of passes over the right that led into the Italy circle but neither the shot nor the rebound found the net. In the 40th minute, Italy managed another dangerous penetration into the circle only to be denied by the quick reflexes of USA goalkeeper Christina Walker (Moyock, N.C.). After that, USA got back into the game and created a series of solid chances, including a couple of penalty corners around the 45th minute. A good penalty corner by Italy in the 47th minute was again thwarted by a great save by Walker. In that phase of the game, Italy tried to advance forward mostly with big hits out of the midfield that had some success, but in the 56th minute USA completed another fast counterattack over the right wing when Lauren Sertich (East Walpole, Mass.) passed to Grant around the penalty spot who then swiveled and scored the second goal.

In the fourth quarter, USA started with fresh energy and great pressure on Italy's defense, but ultimately found few circle penetrations. About four minutes into the period, Italy recovered a bit and it took another beautiful save by goalkeeper Walker off a penalty corner to preserve USA's lead. After that, the game was a lively back and forth in the midfield but few penetrations into either circle until three consecutive penalty corners by Italy 8 minutes before the end of the match that were all stopped by the defenders. Finally, the 69th minute Rebecca Beatty (Queen Creek, Ariz.) made a blistering solo breakaway run across more than half of the field and scored with a crisp shot from the right side for the final score of 3-1. A solid effort by a tired Team USA secured the well-deserved win.

The U.S. O-35 Women's Masters Team captured a win against Scotland in their final match of the 2022 WMH World Cup in Nottingham, England.

Dressed in all red, USA put the heat on Scotland, quickly dominating the first quarter. The second quarter play was a back and forth between the two teams. An interception with less than a minute before the half led to a shot by Grant that went just wide of the cage.

The third quarter continued with USA working the ball up the field as a unit. Ashley Johnston (Royersford, Pa.) picked off several Scotland attempts to advance, transitioning USA to attack. Scotland committed a shooting foul on Grant leading to a penalty stroke late in the third quarter. Lisa Lohre (San Francisco, Calif.) delivered the ball into the back of the net giving USA a 1-0 lead.

Scotland found their way onto the scoreboard in the fourth quarter only to have USA answer back soon after. The red, white and blue's second goal came from Gillern on a penalty corner. USA controlled the possession to secure the 2-1 victory and fifth place in the final standings for the O-35 division.

It was a very dynamic start for the U.S. O-40 Women's Masters Team, as Wales put USA under pressure but the red, white and blue defense led by Brenna Colosi (Lancaster, Pa.) as the center back and S. Smith in goal managed to keep them at bay. USA earned a penalty corner after 5 minutes of play but the shot by M. Smith was blocked by the Wales flyer. After that there was more back and forth and S. Smith had multiple incredible saves in goal. Ten min into the match, Reinhardt threw a beautiful deep aerial that was received by Golley who turned into the circle and shot to the near post for a goal.

In the second quarter, Wales kept pressing but USA was able to defend a great counter attack as Liz Wood (Phoenix, Ariz.) stepped up to intercept a deep and dangerous ball into the circle. At the end of the second frame, Wales earned another penalty corner but Colleen Connors (Luzerne, Pa.) intercepted and got the ball out of the circle.

Pustizzi subbed into the goal  the second half. A few minutes into the third quarter, Nicole Ketterer (El Cerrito, Calif.) blocked a penalty corner shot and passed the ball up the field for an immediate counter attack. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t able to capitalize as the shot went just wide. USA had some nice small passes to keep control and possession. Golley came up with some nice backhand tackles in the defensive 25 and was able to generate immediate attacks.

The fourth quarter had a lot of back and forth. Wales kept up the pressure trying to score the equalizer but Pustizzi denied their opportunities. However, with less than 2 minutes left in the game, Wales was able to find the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team was able to score in the remaining time of regulation. Given that this was a crossover match for 7th place, the teams headed into a shootout. S. Smith stepped into the goal for USA and saved Wales' first attempt. Golley on the other hand converted on her shootout to give USA the lead. S. Smith’s impeccable footwork denied the remaining four shootout attempts giving USA the win over Wales and a 7th place finish overall.

“We treated today’s match as if we were playing for gold," commented S. Smith, following the game. "Knowing that this would be our last game at this World Cup, we wanted to leave everything on the field today”.

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.