U.S. U-17 WNT defeats Netherlands 2-0 to finish U-19 Ten Nations Tournament
The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team finished off an impressive three-game run at the La Manga Women’s Under-19 Ten Nations Tournament, defeating the Netherlands 2-0 with an Amber Munerlyn score and a Dutch own goal.
The U.S. team was playing up in age against teams that featured players one and two years older in the exhibition competition, where each country played three matches. The USA defeated the U-19 team of France 2-0 on March 4 and tied the England U-19s 1-1 on March 6.
Munerlyn made it 1-0 in the 18th minute after Lauren Kaskie received the ball near the left sideline, just shy of midfield, and beat the Dutch outside midfielder with a 25-yard dribble. Kaskie then played a through ball to the speedy Munerlyn, who ran onto the end of the pass near the left side of the 18-yard box. Munerlyn cut inside the box, beat the right outside back and shot from the top left corner of the six yard box, low and hard into the far post. The goalkeeper got a piece of the ball but not enough to keep it out of the net.
The U.S. doubled its lead in the first minute of the second half as Morgan Andrews served a 25-yard diagonal ball from the center circle over to Maggie Purce on the right side. Purce brought the ball down 20 yards from the goal and used her first touch to cut inside past one defender and into the right side of the penalty area. She then cut back outside to beat a second defender and shot from the right corner of the six-yard box. Her low-driven attempt deflected off a defender standing inside the six-yard box and bounced into the goal.
“Overall, I thought it was a very good week for us,” said U.S. head coach Albertin Montoya. “We got better as the week went on and we had a good performance today against a strong Dutch team. This tournament definitely helped us prepare for qualifying. Now we just need to fine-tune a few things. But I’m very pleased with the team’s performance from the beginning to end of this tournament.”
The U.S. team is currently preparing for CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifying that will be held from May 2-12 in Guatemala City, Guatemala, as the Americans will try to earn a berth to the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan.
Match Report
Match: United States U-17 Women’s National Team vs. Holland
Date: March 8, 2012
Competition: La Manga Women’s Under-19 Ten Nations Tournament
Venue: La Manga Club; La Manga, Spain
Weather: 65 degrees, windy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 1 1 2
NED 0 0 0
USA – Amber Munerlyn (Lauren Kaskie) 18th minute
USA – Own Goal 46
Lineups:
USA: 18-Cassie Miller; 2-Brittany Basinger (19-Morgan Reid, 49), 7-Lizzy Raben, 3-Maddie Bauer, 16-Gabbi Miranda (4-Miranda Freeman, 67); 20-Toni Payne, 10-Morgan Andrews, 14-Lauren Kaskie; 12-Amber Munerlyn, 6-Andi Sullivan (11-Summer Green, 56), 17-Maggie Purce
Subs Not Used: 1-Jane Campbell, 9-Morgan Stanton, 13-Sarah Robinson, 15-Emily Bruder
Head Coach: Albertin Montoya
NED: 16-Marieke Ubachs; 20-Josien Jansen (19-Jeslynn Kuypers, 72), 3-Pascalle Tang, 4-Merel van Dongan, 5-Tashira Renfurm (15-Domenique Bruinenberg, 46, (2-Myrthe Moorees, 65); 6-Marthe Munsterman, 10-Sabine Becx, 8-Melissa Evers; 18-Liza van der Most, 7-Judith Westervelt, 11-Babiche Roof (13-Myrusha Victoria, 72)
Subs Not Used: 1-Melissa van der Wiel, 9-Eshly Bakker, 12-Paola van der Veen, 14-Tessa Klein Braskamp, 17-Vesna Veltrop
Head Coach: Johan van Heertum
Stats Summary: USA / NED
Shots: 11 / 4
Shots on Goal: 7 / 1
Saves: 1 / 0
Corner Kicks: 5 / 2
Fouls: 7 / 12
Offside: 6 / 3
Misconduct Summary:
USA – Andi Sullivan (caution) 54th minute
NED – Merel van Dongan (caution) 75
USA – Maggie Purce (caution) 80
