UTICA, N.Y. — Twenty-six minutes into the U.S. women’s box team’s pool play against the Haudenosaunee on Saturday night, the USA had managed just one goal, a transition goal from the speedy Ally Kennedy.
Kennedy scored two more breakaway goals before the half, but the U.S. still trailed the Haudenosaunee 4-3. The 5-on-5 offense couldn’t seem to crack the code on Haudenosaunee goalie Chelsea Doolittle, who finished with 33 first half saves.
Halftime didn’t bring much relief as the U.S. went scoreless for the first nine minutes of the second half.
Fortunately, the U.S. defense was just as lethal. The Haudenosaunee scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the game, but U.S. goalie Ingrid Boyum (28 saves in the game) settled in while the rest of the U.S. defense created havoc, forcing turnovers all over the field.
A pivotal moment came late in the third quarter as the U.S. defense killed off a 5-on-3 power play for the Haudenosaunee. Moments later, after one U.S. played was released from the penalty box, Melissa Sconone took an outside shot as the possession clock was winding down. Doolittle got a piece of the shot, but it rolled in for a shorthanded goal from Sconone to tie the game at 4 with 5:42 left in the third quarter.
“You get the misses out and then out of 10 some of them are going to go,” Erin Bakes said. “We tried not to get frustrated, just keep finding the open looks, make the easy pass and keep shooting and as you saw, some did fall. That’s all we needed.”
After Sconone’s goal. Riley Ewing buried an outside shot from the left wing with 1:59 left in the quarter to give the U.S. its first lead.
Just over a minute later, Bakes came up clutch, connecting on a power play goal from the top of the box with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
“We know that those opportunities are super essential to the game, so converting is a testament to how much we focus and work on them,” Bakes said.
With a 6-4 lead entering the final quarter, the U.S. defense stepped up one more time. Molly Garrett deflected a pass near midfield and then took it the rest of the way for a breakaway goal.
Emily Hawryschuk scored twice in the fourth, Charlotte North had a power play goal and in a fitting ending, Kennedy scored on a breakaway empty-netter with three seconds left to complete an 11-4 victory.
The seven-goal margin did not tell the story of an epic contest.
“There’s X’s and O’s and we have to work on certain things,” said U.S. head coach Ginny Capicchioni. “We told that to the team. But there’s certain things that teams only get from being in battle and you don’t know if your team has it until they’ve been in a battle. We’ve been in a couple in our preseason, but this is the big stage and they had to battle for the win. Now, they know, as we do, that they can do that. That’s bigger than any play we can put in.”
“That’s why we play the game, for those moments that are a test,” Bakes said. “The second half is a great time to be better than the first. It just shows how much heart you have, how much work you put in in the offseason to actually be in the shape to keep running and keep running. Those games are the most fun. We didn’t come here to not have a fun story to tell and those games are the ones that make it fun.”
