The USA Women opened strong on two quick goals from Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) and Neushul for a 2-0 lead with 5:08 to play. China answered with a goal from Zhang Cong to make it 2-1 with 4:24 to play in the first quarter and that would be as close as the match would get. Team USA used the remainder of the first half to score eight unanswered goals to build a 10-1 lead at halftime with Steffens scoring all three of her goals in that run.
Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/NYAC) and Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC) scored to open the third quarter to grab a 12-1 lead before China scored to stop the 10 goal run. Fischer scored twice in the period on the way to a 15-3 lead after three quarters. Four more goals materialized in the fourth period include another from Craig and Fischer as the United States rolled to the big win.
Team USA went 5/8 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty while China was 1/6 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots.
Scoring
USA 19 (5, 5, 5, 4) K. Neushul 3, M. Steffens 3, M. Fischer 3, M. Musselman 2, M. Seidemann 2, C. Mathewson 2, K. Craig 2, R. Fattal 1, K. Gilchrist 1
CHN 5 (1, 0, 2, 2) Xiong D. 1, Zhang C. 1, Zhao Z. 1, Zhang J. 1, Wang X. 1
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 18 – CHN – Peng L. 6
6×5 – USA – 5/8 – CHN – 1/6
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – CHN – 1/1
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.
