Ashley Butler leaps high as she scores 1 of her 4 goals for Team USA
Team USA stayed unbeaten in North American & Caribbean Championships (NORCA) play with a hard fought 25-23 win over Greenland yesterday. The match was a see-saw battle. The U.S. dominated the first half and led 14-10 at the break. In the 2nd half Greenland dominated the first 10 minutes of play with a 9-2 run to take a 19-16 lead. The U.S., however, clamped down on defense at times marking Greenland’s Anja Salso. The stepped up defense worked and the U.S. closed out the game with a 9-4 run for the 25-23 victory.
Kathy Darling again led the U.S. with 7 goals and currently is the overall tourney scoring leader with 14. Ashley Butler and Sarah Gascon added 4, while Ashley Van Ryn and Jence Rhoads scored 3 each. Rounding out the scoring was Julia Taylor with 2 and Elizabeth Hartnett and Shani Levinkind with 1 each. Zoe Lombard and Nicole Andersen did not play as a precaution to concussion that each had previously received, but thet will hopefully return to the lineup tonight.
In last night’s other matchup Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic played to a 23 – 23 Draw. The current standings are
- USA 2-0-0 4 pts +4 GD
- Dominican Republic 1-0-1 3 pts +3 GD
- Puerto Rico 0-1-1 1 Pt -2 GD
- Greenland 0-2-0 0 pts -5 GD
The U.S. concludes Group play today with a match against the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic beat Greenland on day 1 and drew with Puerto Rico yesterday, so they are right behind the U.S. in the standings. If the U.S. wins or draws vs the Dominican Republic it will finish Group Play in first place and will play the fourth place team in the semifinals which will be the loser of tonight’s Greenland-Puerto Rico matchup. Should the U.S. lose tonight they will finish in second place and accordingly will play the winner of the Greenland – Puerto Rico match.
Video of the match is available via Greenland supporter Boas Muller’s Facebook Page:
1st Half Video: Link
2nd Half Video: Link
The U.S. – Dominican Republic match starts at 1730 EDST. If there is a live video feed I will post it to the Team Handball News Facebook page.