USA Field Hockey NEWS Indoor USMNT Drop Op...

Indoor USMNT Drop Opening Match, USWNT Pick Up Win & Tie on First Day of Rohrmax Cup

Jan. 03, 2020, 12:49 p.m. (ET)

Images Courtesy of Katherine Hennessy

Click the image above to view the full gallery

VIENNA, Austria - January 3, 2020 - The red, white and blue was well represented on the opening day of the 2020 Rohrmax Cup in Vienna, Austria, with all three squads playing in the first three matches of the tournament. The U.S. Women's National Indoor Team's Blue squad faced Belarus to begin the day, tying 2-2. The second game featured the Indoor USMNT against the LUC Ronchin Lille club team, which the opposition claimed a 7-1 victory. Lastly, the women's USA Gold team wrapped up the day against the SV Arminen club team with a 4-1 win.

USA Blue 2 - 2 Belarus 

Belarus controlled the early stages of the game as USA goalkeeper Sierra Espeland (Fredericksburg, Va.) was called upon to make a series of timely saves. After failing to capitalize on their first two penalty corners, Belarus found the goal on their third attempt to take a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute. USA rebounded well and created a number of chances culminating in a penalty corner shot by Ali Campbell (Lancaster, Pa.) that bounced off the post before halftime to leave them off the scoreboard for the time being.

USA put increased pressure on Belarus' defense at the start of the second half starting with Kelsey Briddell (Wilton, N.Y.) who forced a turnover on the boards and found Laura Hurff (Newark, Del.) on the edge of the circle. Hurff then beat the on rushing goalkeeper with a hard low shot to tie the game at 1-1. Hurff was in the thick of USA's resurgent play forcing turnovers. Rounding a defender on the top of the circle, she laid the ball off to Makayla Gallen (Glen Mills, Pa.) who found space on the far post to send it past the diving goalkeeper to give USA the 2-1 advantage with 6 minutes to play.
 
With the game opening up, Belarus responded off a penalty corner to tie it. USA fought hard to regain the lead and nearly succeeded when Mayv Clune (Quakertown, Pa.) had a penalty corner chance stopped on the line. Belarus' goalkeeper followed up with an outstanding save off a shot from Briddell as time ran out. 
“It was a good start against a quality team,” said Jun Kentwell, Indoor USWNT Head Coach. “Kasey Tapman and Laura Hurff settled in well and showed their competitive edge.”

USA Gold 4 - 1 SV Arminen

USA Gold tallied two goals in each half to run away with a  4-1 win against the perennially strong host club SV Arminen. Beth Yeager (Rye, N.Y.) found Hope Rose (Dauphin, Pa.) with a penetrating pass who made no mistake with a strong high shot to open the scoring. A fine passing move that involved Corinne Zanolli (Newtown Square, Pa.) and Yeager who then slipped the ball to Ashley Sessa (Schwenksville, Pa.) to finish by the right post gave USA a 2-0 lead at the half.

After the break, SV Arminen came out determined in the opening minute and put a goal back to narrow the gap. However, USA immediately restored their two goal lead when Sessa picked up a clear on the half way line before she cut to the top of the circle and beat the goalkeeper in a 1-on-1 opportunity. Moments later Yeager saw her penalty corner effort halted by SV Arminien's goalkeeper but Rose made no mistake on the rebound with another strong high shot to extend the lead to 4-1. Zanolli nearly added another for USA when she hit the post on a penalty corner attempt.
“I was very pleased with the work rate and skills shown by Beth [Yeager], Hope [Rose] and Ashley [Sessa], three of our youngest players, today” commented Kentwell. "But there were areas we each need to improve as a team. I will be looking for the players to make adjustments tomorrow and show more quality in our play.”

USA 1 - 7 LUC Ronchin Lillie

A young Indoor USMNT fell in their opening match of the Rohrmax Cup 7-1 to France's elite LUC Ronchin Lille club. LUC set the pace from the start and notched their first goal at just under the 3-minute mark with a flick over the right shoulder of USA goalkeeper Stephen Dennis (Fairfield, Conn.). Four subsequent attempts in rapid succession yielded no result. USA settled in and earned their first penalty corner in the 6th minute with a quick conversion by Ajai Dhadwal (Agoura Hills, Calif.) to level the score at 1-1.

LUC increased the tempo and converted on their first penalty corner attempt in the 12th minute and scored two back-to-back goals in the last three minutes of the first period to bring the score to USA 1, LUC 4.

USA scrambled to regain composure in the second half against LUC's coordinated strikers who found three winning combinations to further extend their lead. The red, white, and blue stepped up to the higher intensity and created a few circle penetrations and opportunities but were unable to get off a clean shot. In the final minutes of the game, USA successfully denied two penalty corner attempts as the final score stood 7-1 to LUC.
"We played a very good first half but then two quick goals near the end of the period extended LUC's champions league to 4-1 by half time," said Alex Gheorghe, Indoor USMNT Head Coach. "In the second half, we created a few opportunities that we didn’t convert while LUC capitalized on their penalty corners. Overall it was a fantastic learning experience which the players will take into tomorrow’s game."
"We were obviously disappointed with the final scoreline of the game today," commented Alex Grassi (Brookeville, Md.), Indoor USMNT Captain. "This was the team’s first game together and that showed. Areas of improvement have been identified and we will focus on making those fixes moving forward. Looking forward to another good test in tomorrow’s game."

For more information regarding the upcoming Rohrmax Cup, including the full schedule and results, visit the event page by clicking here.