The USA Women's National Team will play for 5th place at the World Championships

This match went back and forth throughout with the United States building two and three goal leads only to see the Dutch battle back. Early on however, it was the Netherlands taking the lead, connecting on an outside shot just 15 seconds into the match for a 1-0 lead. A little over three minutes later Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/SBWPF) took a pass from Kelly Rulon (San Diego, CA/UCLA/NYAC) and cashed in for a 1-1 game. Annika Dries (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET) followed on a setup from Jillian Kraus (Santa Ana, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) for a 2-1 lead with 2:38 to play. The Netherlands had the last word in the first, scoring off a backhand from Ieonie van der Molen to even the match at 2-2 going to the second.

The second period started the same as the first with the Netherlands scoring on their first possession to take a 3-2 lead. Team captain Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC) returned fire with a power play goal for a 3-3 game with 6:33 to go. Two minutes later the Netherlands responded with a score for a 4-3 lead only to see Dries power her way to the cage for a 4-4 match. Kraus beat the keeper on a player advantage in close for a 5-4 advantage moments later. Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/Stanford) scored on a skip shot with 1:25 to go in the half and the United States led 6-4. The Netherlands had one final answer, scoring on a power play with just three seconds left in the half to pull into halftime trailing 6-5.

Exchanging of goals was a common theme in the third period. Mathewson scored first from the outside for a 7-5 lead, only to see the Netherlands come back with a goal as an advantage was ending for a 7-6 game. Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/SBWPF) went cross cage for a score to make it 8-6 USA only to be followed by an outside delivery from the Dutch for an 8-7 match. This time the United States would score last as Neushul delivered on a power play with four seconds left in the period to go up 9-7 headed to the fourth.

For the third time in the match the Netherlands scored first to open a quarter, climbing to within one at 9-8. Craig got loose inside for a score less than a minute later and it was back to a two goal advantage at 10-8. With 6:14 left in the match the United States looked to pull away when Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/Diablo) hit on a penalty shot for an 11-8 match, but the Dutch were far from done.

The Netherlands came back with a power play goal to make it 11-9, but then Steffens followed with an outside shot for a 12-9 lead with 3:24 to go. The Netherlands went cross cage bar-in for a goal with 2:18 remaining to make it 12-10 in favor of the United States. Then with 1:20 to go in the match the Lieke Klaassen hit for her fourth goal, this time on a player advantage to make it a one goal game at 12-11. The Netherlands would get one final chance with less than a minute to play, but a shot attempt sailed out of bounds and the United States ran out the clock to secure the one goal victory.

Team USA went 6/9 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots while the Netherlands went 5/7 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty shot.

Scoring - Scoresheet
USA 12 (2, 4, 3, 3) M. Steffens 2, C. Mathewson 2, K. Neushul 2, A. Dries 2, K. Craig 2, M. Seidemann 1, J. Kraus 1
NED 11 (2, 3, 2, 4) 
Saves - USA - B. Armstrong 10
6x5 - USA 6/9 - NED 5/7
Penalties - USA 1/1 - NED 0/0

Flash Quotes
"I think this games shows some character and I'm proud of the team. We have one more game to finish out this tournament and we can't be satisfied with just today's result. We have to prepare like we did for this game, for Greece. Ultimately our six on five was much better today, that's a big reason why we struggled against Spain, and it's good to have a good day on our man advantage." Adam Krikorian, USA Head Coach 

“It was a tight game and we are satisfied with the victory because the Netherlands are a very good team. We are still very motivated in this tournament even if we don't play in the semifinals. We’ll try to finish the competition strong.” Jillian Kraus, USA Attacker