U.S. U-16 Girls National Team earns 2-1 win over Switzerland

WOLUWE-SAINT-LAMBERT, Belgium (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Under-16 Girls’ National Team defeated its counterparts from Switzerland, 2-1, to sweep all three of its matches in Belgium and win the Women’s U-16 Development Tournament.

The USA defeated Croatia 4-0 on May 12 and downed Belgium 1-0 on May 14. In the other match today, Belgium defeated Croatia, 1-0. Host Belgium finished second in the tournament, Switzerland was third and Croatia was fourth. The only goal Belgium allowed during the competition was an own goal against the USA.

The USA went into the game against Switzerland needing a win, or a tie through regulation, to earn the title, as all ties in this tournament were to go straight to penalties, and even a loss in the shootout would have earned the USA the one point it needed to win the title.

+READ: U.S. U-16 Girls National Team defeats Belgium 1-0 on own goal

That scenario never came close to materializing as the USA scored before 60 seconds had elapsed. Allyson Sentnor took a hard shot from the right side that the ‘keeper deflected directly to Samantha Kroeger, who was first to the rebound to finish it for her first goal at the U-16 international level.

In a match that featured 40-minute halves, Sentnor scored her first U-16 international goal to make it 2-0 in the 27^th minute courtesy of a beautiful ball from Trinity Rodman, who dribbled down the right wing, out-running several defenders, before playing a ball on the ground into the middle. Sentnor deftly flicked the ball with her heel into the net.

Just before halftime, the USA allowed its only goal of the tournament — from the penalty spot — as Switzerland pulled a goal back. U.S. captain Dasia Torbert committed a foul in the penalty area and Mona Gubler stroked it home to make it 2-1.

Switzerland would not get an equalizer as the USA piled up a 14-3 advantage in shots for the match.

+READ: U.S. U-16 Girls National Team defeats Croatia 4-0

This tournament was for players born in 2001 and 2002, so the Americans were playing against older teams as the U.S. roster featured mostly players born in 2002 and 2003 and one born in 2004. The tournament was played with some unique rules, all geared toward player development.

• Each player on the 20-player rosters had to have played a minimum of 80 minutes during the tournament, the equivalent of one full match.
• No player was allowed to play more than 120 minutes in a 48-hour period.
• Every player had to start a match at least once.
• Any match that was tied at the end of regulation would have gone into penalties with the following points being awarded according to the outcomes, but no match ended in a draw:
  • 3 points – Win in Regulation
  • 2 points – Win after penalties
  • 1 point – Loss after penalties
  • 0 points – Loss in Regulation

This group of players moved up from the U-14 level last year and will spend two years as the U-16 GNT before moving on to the U-18s. These players are all age-eligible for the 2018 U-17 Women’s World Cup, which has an age cut-off of players born on or after January 1, 2001, but will eventually be the core age group for the team that will attempt to qualify for the U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2022.

– U.S. Under-16 Girls’ National Team Match Report –

Match: U.S. U-16 Girls’ National Team vs. Switzerland U-16 GNT
Date: May 16, 2017
Competition: Women’s U-16 Development Tournament
Venue: Stade Fallon; Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
Weather: 75 degrees; sunny

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
USA                             2          0          2
SUI                              1          0          1

USA – Samantha Kroeger (Allyson Sentnor)             1st minute
USA – Allyson Sentnor (Trinity Rodman)                   27
SUI – Mona Gubler (penalty kick)                              38

Lineups:
USA: 12-Stephanie Sparkowski, 2-Kayla Colbert (15-Smith Hunter, 57), 3-Samar Guidry, 5-Dasia Torbert (capt), 16-Katie Groff (19-Devi Dudley, 51), 7-Isabel Loza (8-Josephine Aulicino, 57), 6-Aislyn Crowder (4-Michaela Rosenbaum, 41), 17-Samantha Kroeger (14-Tatiana Fung, 57), 10-Trinity Rodman (24-Jillian Shimkin, 57), 9-Allyson Sentnor (13-Joyelle Washington, 51), 11-Alexis Missimo (18-Michelle Cooper, 41)
Subs not used: 1-Mia Justus
Head Coach: Jaime Frias

SUI: 12-Livia Peng, 3-Laura Felber (20-Elisa Zeller, 41), 4-Jasmin Gerster (9-Julia Pirker, 41), 5-Mona Gubler, 8-Chiara Messerli, 10-Chiara Rauso, 11-Audrey Remy (6-Laura Keel, 41) 14-Kattalin Stahl (capt.), 16-Fiona Sturgess, 18-Debora Vogl (17-Morina Suter, 41), 19-Franka Weber (19-Franka Weber,60)
Subs not used: 1-Alana Jaquier, 2-Ylenia Caputo, 7-Kristina Markovic, 13-Chiara Salm, 15-Rebecca Storr
Head Coach: Brigitte Steiner

Stats Summary: USA / SUI
Shots: 14 / 3
Shots on Goal: 8 / 2
Saves: 1 / 6
Corner Kicks: 2 / 1
Fouls: 9 / 2
Offside: 5 / 1

Misconduct Summary:
None

May 14
USA 1, Belgium 0
Switzerland 3, Croatia 0