SVETI IVAN ZELINA, Croatia - January 4, 2019 - In the opening day of the Croatia Cup in Sveti Ivan Zelina, Croatia, both the Junior and Senior U.S. Women's National Indoor Teams had solid showings. The opening match saw the teams go head to head where the senior side prevailed. The U-21 Indoor USWNT responded in their second game against Hungary by tallying an impressive 16 goals while conceding none. The Indoor USWNT's final game was a bit of a struggle as they were put under a lot of pressure from Croatia's U-21 team but they prevailed for the win.

USA 18 - U-21 USA 4

U-21 USA 16 - Hungary 0

Croatia’s U-21 team maintained a very strong press throughout the game, not allowing USA to settle and forcing errors and turnover passes. When the Indoor USWNT was able to make quick early passes, they were able to break down Croatia’s defense, but too often they held the ball for too long and allowed their opponent to close the passing lanes and make strong tackles.

Ali Campbell (Boyertown, Pa.) converted the first USA penalty corner, in the third minute, finishing the rebound from her initial shot. Ashley Sessa (Schwenksville, Pa.), growing in confidence, intercepted a pass, beat two defenders and shot into the far corner to give USA a 2-0 lead in the eighth minute. Five minutes later Corinne Zanolli (Newtown Square, Pa.) stole the ball and fired a quick shot past the Croatia goalkeeper Katarina Filipovic. Almost from the restart Maddie Orobono (Macungie, Pa.) found Hope Rose (Dauphin, Pa.) on the post with a penetrating pass to extent the lead to 4-0. Two minutes later Rose added her second.

As the seconds ticked down Nathalie Friedman (Phoenix, Md.) took a quick free hit to Elizabeth Yeager (Rye, N.Y.) who found Zanolli with a first-time pass. Zanolli sped around the U-21 Croatia goalkeeper to give USA a hard earned 6-0 half time lead.

Croatia’s U-21 team came out for the second half with the same determination and their persistence paid off immediately with a quick pass and shot to reduce the USA lead. Croatia forced USA goalkeeper Skye Joegriner (Gaithersburg, Md.) to make two good saves as they continued to pressure USA’s defense. It took until the 32nd minute for USA to breakthrough again. Sessa showed some nice skill to beat two defenders and laid off a fine pass for Rose to finish. Two minutes later, Campbell send a strong pass into the circle for Orobono to deflect neatly to give USA an 8-1 lead. A minute later Paityn Wirth (Thompsontown, Pa.) finished off another excellent run and pass from Zanolli to give USA a hard earned 9-1 victory over the talented young Croatia U-21 side.

“This young team gave us a strong test today," said Kentwell. "They put us under a lot of pressure. We need to learn to play with more patience and poise and not force passes. The shoreline does not reflect how well the Croatia team played.”

The U.S. Women's National Indoor Team was honored with the presence of the U.S. Ambassador and his family for this game. 

The Croatia Cup continues tomorrow with both teams have two games. The Indoor USWNT will take on Slovakia at 5:50 a.m. ET and Slovenia at 10:40 a.m. ET. The U-21 Indoor USWNT will match-up against Croatia at 7:00 a.m. ET and Slovakia at 11:50 a.m. ET. The remainder of the tournament will not be live streamed on USA Field Hockey's Facebook page per the request of the FIH.