U20 WNT defeats New Zealand 4-0

U20 WNT defeats New Zealand 4-0
May 16, 2010
The U20 Women’s National Team met the New Zealand Women for the second time in three days Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

Chalk it up to fresh legs, good coaching or the comforts of playing on home soil, but one thing was undeniable:

The U.S. was unstoppable on Saturday.

After the convincing 4-0 victory - the U20s’ second shutout of the Kiwis this week - coach Jill Ellis could find little to complain about.

"I thought we possessed better, our speed of play was better in the second half,” she said. "We did a good job of finding the weak side, moving the ball laterally, and we scored some fantastic goals. We tried to be more patient in our attack, and we generated more pressure defensively and in the midfield.

womens college soccer playersUS U20 WNT v New Zealand on Thursday on Saturday.
“At this point, these players are all looking to become starters on this team; we had a lot of players make good cases for themselves today.”

After a somewhat uninspiring first half, the U.S. came alive in the second.

Sydney Leroux showed good attacking instincts and had a strong presence at the striker position in the first half. She scored the game’s first goal in the 30th minute.

Samantha Mewis entered the central midfield in the second half and made an immediate impact. She was physical, very strong in the air, distributed the ball and scored in the 68th minute on a blistering far-post shot from 30 yards out.

Kristie Mewis was very active cutting inside from the right wing. The combination of the Mewis sisters and Teresa Noyola helped the U.S. gain control of the game from the midfield.

Amber Brooks was solid as a holding midfielder, repeatedly winning tough 50/50 balls and distributing with patience and accuracy.

Crystal Dunn moved to the outside from her usual role in the middle of the defense, and was equally effective in her new role. She showed a great touch and toughness on the tackle, and also sent in a number of crosses from the wing.

Maya Hayes appeared uninvolved at times in the second half, but she made her mark with an impressive run where she blew past three defenders and ripped a solid strike on goal near the end of the game.

Goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlin was stout in the second half, blocking a few shots and coming off her line very quickly to extinguish every potential Kiwi attack.

Outside backs Kendall Johnson and Danielle Hubka combined well with midfielders to work the ball up the field. Johnson also used her great strength and body positioning to make several nice tackles on the ball.

Forward Tiffany McCarty took a great through ball from Kristie Mewis in stride for the game’s third goal, as she side-stepped the goalkeeper and touched the ball into the side netting.

Toni Pressley was her usual composed self in the defense. She made several hard tackles and also did well to head the ball back to Heaberlin in goal on a ball bouncing dangerously through the defense.

And finally, center Sade Ayinde had a great all-around game. She was a physical presence in the back, and scored a fantastic goal when she one-touch volleyed a corner kick into the upper corner of the goal.

It was an impressive outing for the U20s, who seem to get better with every game.

They already set a high standard for themselves, but if they treat other international opponents the same way they treated the Kiwis this week, that standard will only rise higher.

U.S. U20 WNT Starting Lineup:

GOALKEEPER:
Adrianna Franch (Oklahoma State; Salina, Kan.)

DEFENDERS (4): Sade Ayinde (Maryland; North Bellmore, N.Y.), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina; Rockville Centre, N.Y.), Kendall Johnson (Portland; Portland, Ore.), Toni Pressley (Florida State; Melbourne, Fla.)
 
MIDFIELDERS (4): Amber Brooks (North Carolina; New Hope, Pa.), Kristie Mewis (Boston College; Hanson, Mass.), Christine Nairn (Penn State; Bowie, Md.), Casey Short (Florida State; Naperville, Ill.)

FORWARDS (2): Vicki DiMartino (Boston College; Massapequa, N.Y.), Sydney Leroux (UCLA; Pheonix, Ariz.)

Substitutes by Position:

GOALKEEPERS (3)
: Bryane Heaberlin (Clearwater Chargers; St. Petersburg, Fla.), Bianca Henninger (Santa Clara; Los Gatos, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (2): Danielle Hubka (Maryland; Strongsville, Ohio) Rachel Quon (Stanford; Lake Forrest, Ill.)

MIDFIELDERS (5):
Zakiya Bywaters (UCLA; Las Vegas, Nev.), Kayla Grimsley (South Carolina; Lakeland, Fla.), Samantha Mewis (Scorpion SC; Hanson, Mass.), Teresa Noyola (Stanford; Palo Alto, Calif.), Jenna Richmond (UCLA; Centreville, Va.)

FORWARDS (3): Maya Hayes (Penn State; West Orange, N.J.), Tiffany McCarty (Florida State; Laurel, Md.), Courtney Verloo (Stanford; Tualatin, Ore.)
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