Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Team USA (exhibition)
U.S. National Team's Experience Wins Out Over Bucknell Women's Water Polo
4/9/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 9, 2004
Courtesy of Darcy Couch
USA Water Polo Assistant Media Director
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The U.S. Women's National Team touched down on the East Coast today after a dark and early start from Indiana this morning. Still, Team USA was able to brush off its 3 a.m. wakeup call and make another Olympic-sized splash on its 2004 Collegiate Tour. Bucknell played host to the United States' East Coast debut, and fell victim to the U.S. women's balanced attack, stifling defense, and counterattack speed as the United States posted a 19-2 win over the host Bison.
The victory was the sixth win in six games at Team USA closed in on the halfway point of its lengthy tour against some of the nation's top college programs. The U.S. is jet-setting around the Midwest and the East Coast this month before returning to California for the final five games of the 13-game series, which began with a Feb. 13 win over New York's Hartwick College in Los Alamitos, CA. Team USA next takes its winning streak to the Ivy League. Specifically: Princeton. The Tigers host Team USA at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 12.
"The crowd was excellent. It's Good Friday, a holiday weekend and people were still driving hours to come see us," U.S. coach Guy Baker said of the 450-odd Pennsylvanians who packed the stands of Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium for the game and then lined up afterward for autographs. "We did a very nice job on offense and scored some beautiful goals. Everybody scored at least one goal."
The scoring trend started early. Six different players scored for the USA in its 6-0 run through the first quarter, and the kept that theme up until team captain Heather Moody tallied her second to put the USA up 8-0 midway through the second. Twenty-eight seconds into the game, Ericka Lorenz set up USA center Ellen Estes with a two-meter score to get the ball rolling on the United State's scoring frenzy. In the USA's two Midwestern games, Estes had the luxury of a little less pressure on her this time, with Moody back in the starting lineup after sitting out the past two Collegiate Tour games to let her fractured finger heal.
The extra strength at two meters and stubborn defense of the United States helped them control the game from start to finish, countering hard and distributing the scoring. By game's end, all 12 field players on Team USA had found the back of the net. Bucknell goalie Mandy Bynum stopped several dangerous USA strikes on goal in the game, but couldn't compete with the amount of scoring strength coming from every position on the USA roster.
Starting goalie Nicolle Payne and her stalwart defense pitched a shutout through the first half while the offense streaked to an 11-0 lead by the halftime buzzer -- the USA's largest halftime edge of the tour. Jackie Frank then stepped in to man the cage and kept up that shutout until Bucknell's Jessica Trimis earned the Bisons a four-meter penalty shot at the 5:38 mark of the fourth quarter. Kelly Hofstetter put away the shot in the low left corner to finally get the Bison on the board, making it 16-1. The Bison struck again with 4:14 to go in the game with Katie Hartigan skipping in a goal from three meters out for a 17-2 score.
"I think the exciting thing for me, which I expected to see, was a lot of the fear factor went away and we played a lot more aggressively and more what we've been training to play," Bucknell coach John Zeigler said. "For us this was an incredible opportunity to have a small part in helping the National Team train for the Olympics."
Maureen Flanagan's second score of the game to start the fourth quarter pushed the USA to its largest scoring tally of the tour, putting Team USA ahead 16-0. Then Gabbie Domanic completed the United States' scoring clinic with a score. That put the USA at an even dozen scorers on the night, with Thalia Munro registering the only hat trick for the red, white and blue.
Box Score Team USA 6 5 4 4 -- 19 Bucknell 0 0 0 2 -- 2
Individual Scoring
Team USA: Munro 3, Beauregard 2, Moody 2, Flanagan 2, Rulon 2, Petri 2, Estes 1, Lorenz 1, Villa 1, Golda 1, Dingeldein 1, Domanic 1
Bucknell: Hofstetter 1, Hartigan 1
Goal Saves
Team USA: Payne 3, Frank 9
Bucknell: Bynum 3, Colgan 1
Player Advantage Scoring
Team USA: 5 for 6
Bucknell: 0 for 0, 1 for 1 penalty shots
