Women’s Intercontinental Tournament 2016, Day 1

Opening night of the 2016 FINA Women’s Intercontinental Tournament was a bit of a scoring festival. All told, there were 70 goals in three games on Tuesday evening at the Lewisville ISD Westside Aquatic Center in Texas.

Australia won the opening match, 12-10, over China but it was closer than expected as the teams were deadlocked, 5-5, at halftime. Next, the U.S. obliterated Brazil, 17-2. And in the finale, Canada beat Japan, 19-10.

This week, all six teams will be vying for a coveted berth at the FINA World League Super Final in Shanghai, China, June 7-12 – but only the top four (plus host China) will qualify.  In addition, the three nations who have yet to qualify for the Rio Olympics (USA, Canada, and Japan) will be approaching each game quite seriously as a crucial tune-up for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the Netherlands next month.

GAME 1: 16:40 AUSTRALIA 12 CHINA 10
Quarters: 3-2, 2-3, 4-2, 3-3

Extra Man: AUS: 2/5. CHN 0/5.
Pens: AUS: 1/1

Teams:
AUSTRALIA: 1. Lea Yanitsas, Gemma Beadsworth, Hannah Buckling, Holly Lincoln-Smith, Keesja Gofers (1), Bronte Halligan (1), Rowena Webster, Glencora McGhie (5), Zoe Arancini (1), Ashleigh Southern (2), Isobel Bishop, Nicola Zagame (2), Kelsey Wakefield. Head Coach: Greg McFadden.
CHINA: Yang Jun, Lu Yiwen, Mei Xiaohan, Xiong Dunhan, Niu Guannan (1), Sun Yating (1), Song Donglun (4), Zhang Cong, Zhao Zihan (1), Zhang Wei Wei, Wang Xinyan (1), Zhang Jing (2), Peng Lin. Head Coach: Ricardo Azevedo.

Australia and China kept it close in the first half, but Australia's lead in the third quarter was key because the teams were evenly matched in the fourth. Australia’s Glencora McGhie ultimately tied for the most goals of the night, with five. Yet Song Donglun of China added four of her own.

McGhie netted the first goal of the 2016 tournament. Later, her fellow Aussie and 2012 Olympic bronze-medal teammate Ashleigh Southern tied it at 2-all. Keesja Gofers gave Australia a 3-2 lead on a power play goal with 1:21 to go, thus ending the first-period scoring.
 
In a back-and-forth second quarter, every time China tied the game, Australia answered. By halftime, it was tied at five goals apiece.

In a physical third quarter Australia went up 6-5 thanks to McGhie’s fourth goal of the game, followed by  Zoe Arancini’s penalty shot to open a two-goal lead that Australia would keep until the end of the third period , which ended 9-7 after a soft dump-in by Nicola Zagame.

In the fourth quarter, each team scored three more times, but China clinched the final two points: first, on a rocket by Zhang Jing with 1:07 to go, and second, from Song Donglun with 21 seconds remaining.

QUOTES:
Australia Head Coach Greg McFadden:
“We allowed way too many easy goals in the first quarter and a bit. Then we tightened our defense which allowed us to go on different counterattacks. In the third quarter, there was a lot better movement, a lot better options in our attack. We put the Chinese under pressure and that allowed us to get that two- or three-goal gap.”

China Head Coach Ricardo Azevedo:
“Our defense worked very, very well. We frustrated the Australians. Probably the only times they scored is when we made mistakes on the read, so we just have to eliminate mistakes on the defensive side. As far as the offense, we had a lot of opportunities. We scored 10 goals, it should have won the game.

“Of course, I can’t say I’m happy with a loss, but I’d say I’m happy with the effort. We had some great goals. I was able to play every single player. I have a very young team. So I think it was, altogether, pretty positive.”

GAME 2: 18:10, BRAZIL 2 USA 17
Quarters: 1-3, 1-8, 0-4, 0-2

Extra Man: BRA: 0/3. USA 1/10.
Pens: USA 1/1.

Teams:
BRAZIL Tess Oliveira, Diana Abla, Marina Zablith, Marina Canetti, Camila Pedrosa, Isabella Chiappini, Amanda Oliveira, Luiza Carvalho (1), Melani Dias, Viviane Bahia, Marina Duarte (1), Gabriela Mantellato, Victoria Chamorro. Head Coach: Pat Oaten.
UNITED STATES: Sami Hill, Maddie Musselman (2), Melissa Seidemann (2), Rachel Fattal (2), KK Clark (1), Maggie Steffens (1), Courtney Mathewson, Kiley Neushul (5), Aria Fischer (1), Kaleigh Gilchrist (1), Makenzie Fischer (2), Kami Craig, Ashleigh Johnson. Head Coach: Adam Krikorian.

Brazil actually scored first in the lopsided match against the host nation. Marina Duarte found the net halfway into the (eight-minute) first quarter, but the US answered less than two minutes later when 17-year-old high schooler Maddie Musselman took a pass from 2012 Olympic gold medalist Melissa Seidemann and scored. Next, two quick saves in a row by the US (and Princeton University) goalie Ashleigh Johnson empowered American Kiley Neushul to score twice within the next minute to give the US a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

By halftime, the US opened up a massive 11-2 gap. The second quarter was book-ended by a pair of goals by 18-year-old Makenzie Fischer. In between, Kiley Neushul sunk two in a row, followed by a blast from team captain Maggie Steffens, a close-range goal by Melissa Seidemann, a missile into the upper left corner of the net by Rachel Fattal on a power play, and a quirky solo goal by Seidemann that was initiated by long pool-length pass from US goalie Johnson. By the midpoint, seven U.S. players had scored.

In the second half, the US held Brazil scoreless and went on a 15-2 tear. The US added two more goals in the fourth – neither by Kiley Neushul who otherwise tallied five for the night.

QUOTES:
Brazil Head Coach Pat Oaten:
“We have a lot of work to do, a tremendous amount of work to do. We need to be in game situations. If we get those opportunities to play, then I think the team’s going to improve dramatically. We’re going to recap today’s game, then move on to tomorrow. It’s a long tournament. We’ll take it a game at a time.”

United States center Kami Craig:
“Brazil is a tricky opponent. They’re small, they’re quick, they’re unconventional at times. We really placed an emphasis on defense on them today. I was proud to see that we took care of that in this game.
 
“In the first game, we like to set a tone for the tournament: making sure we’re focused, knowing the game plan, treating every opponent the same, and starting to build good habits and routines.”

GAME 3: 19:30, JAPAN 10 CANADA 19
Quarters: 3-6, 3-3, 1-4, 3-6

Extra Man: JPN: 2/6. CAN 0/6.
Pens: JPN 1/1. CAN 1/1.

Teams:
JAPAN: Rikako Miura, Chiaki Sakanoue, Akari Inaba (2), Shino Magariyama (2), Yuri Kazama, Ayaka Takahashi, Yumi Nakano (3), Mitsuki Hashiguchi (1), Kana Hosoya (1), Mori Tsubasai, Marina Tokumoko, Kotori Suzuki (1), Miyuu Aoki. Head Coach: Hideo Kato.
CANADA: Jessica Gaudreault, Krystina Alogbo (2), Katrina Monton, Emma Wright (1), Monika Eggens (3), Kelly McKee, Joelle Bekhazi (3), Shae Fournier (1), Carmen Eggens (2), Christine Robinson (2), Axelle Crevier (1), Dominique Perreault (4), Nicola Colterjohn. Head Coach: David Paradelo.

In a preview of group play at next month’s 2016 Olympic Qualification tournament in Netherlands, Canada outscored Japan 6-3 in the first quarter. In the second quarter, each team scored three more goals, and by halftime, eight players had contributed to Canada’s nine points. Similarly, five of Japan’s players were responsible for its six goals. (Japan’s captain Shino Magariyama and Canada’s Carmen Eggens were the exceptions, each scoring twice.)

In the third quarter, Japan struggled as Canada added four more goals, punctuated by 31-year-old veteran Dominique Perreault’s third goal of the game to give Canada a, 13-7 lead. In the fourth quarter, Canada added six more goals with style, including the final one by Perreault, while Japan claimed just three. Final score: Canada 19-10.

QUOTES:
Japan Head Coach Hideo Kato:
“Today we get more exclusions than Canada, so we got more opportunity for 6-on-5. That was good. But we should have scored more from 6-on-5. After we scored a goal, the defense lost many, many goals. We worry about that; our set defense was not so good. Tomorrow [against Brazil] we have to care about that.”

Canada Head Coach David Paradelo:
“The key to success tonight was just getting better discipline on the second half. Being more aware on defense, making sure we were following the game plan, and adapting to the Japanese style of play [which was] ferocious. They’re pretty much playing in the passing lane, like overplaying the passing lane on defense causing Canada some bad passes or turnovers that lead into counter attack opportunities. I [also] think maybe we were over-physical on some passes into the center. We had a lot of turnovers off the center. Hopefully we can adapt in the next few games.”