USA trounces Japan 4-2 in the opening match - USA vs. Japan Five Test Series – Hockey News
The American Women’s Hockey Team opened up the home series against Japan in style, after winning the first of the five tests 4-2, played at the Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, California, on April 23.
The USA Field Hockey also raised funds, which summed-up to $11,316 for the Japan Disaster Relief, considering the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hit the country last month, in March. The amount got mounted up through the American Red Cross. A large cheque of the sum was given away to Japan’s National Women Team, before the first match on Saturday.
In the first half, USA inaugurated the match with their sixth minute penalty corner that was attempted by Rachel Dawson. The shot was a straight hit that went past the Japanese goal-keeper, opening the scoreboard at 1-0.
In the next eleven minutes, another goal was shot by USA, taking the lead to 2-0. The goal was struck by Katie Evans, as a result of impressive passes among the front-line players.
The first half closed with the USA leading by 2-0 goals, over their Japanese counterpart.
In the second half, Japan turned the tables after they equalised when they scored from two penalty corners in the early minutes, locking the scores at 2-2.
After the two-goal misses from American goal-keeper, Jackie Kintzer, the US women felt their domination fading away, with no additions to the scoreboard until the 54th minute.
Maren Ford scored with just sixteen minutes left in the game, to take the USA back into the lead 3-2.
Four minutes later, a pass made by Torrie Albini got deflected into the net, sealing the fourth goal for USA. The match closed with USA earning a 4-2 victory over Japan.
The winning team’s Head Coach, Lee Bodimeade said, "We're very happy to come away with a win against quality opposition. We've been targeting some key areas since our tour in Argentina and it was pleasing to see the effectiveness of those areas when we were able to apply them. We are looking forward to the challenges of the remaining four matches."
USA squad member, Caroline Nichols commented, "Today was a good start to what will be a very competitive series with Japan. We had a chance to implement a lot of what we have been working on in practice against a strong opponent. It is nice to see our work come to shape. I am really excited to see what further steps we taken in this series. Today's win was a step in the right direction."
The next four tests of USA's home series against Japan are scheduled to be played on April 24, 26, 27, and 29 at the same venue.
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