WATER POLO: Team USA Takes Down Canada 11-6; Van Norman Tallies Three In Victory

The USA Women's Senior National Team got off to a good start in their three game exhibition set against Canada with an 11-6 victory Tuesday evening at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. Playing in front of a large Figge contingent, alum Erika Figge tallied a goal late in the game to help seal the victory for USA in their first international competition since March in Beijing, China. Canada who failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games brought somewhat of a new-look roster to Southern California and blitzed Team USA early jumping out to a 2-0 lead. That was short-lived as thanks to a pair of scores from southpaw Brittany Hayes the United States ran off five straight goals spanning the first and second quarter snatching a 5-2 lead with a little over three minutes left in the first half. Our neighbors to the north showed some resiliency as they battled back to make it 5-4 headed into halftime when Rosanna Tomiuk found the back of the cage with just one second remaining in the second quarter. The third quarter saw Team USA roar back as center Moriah van Norman set up shop in front of the cage tossing in a pair of goals to help turn a 5-4 lead into a 9-5 lead by the end of the third quarter. Natalie Golda added the second of her two scores in the third as well and things were looking good going to the fourth. In the final stanza Canada would draw to within three at 9-6 just under 30 seconds into the period but they would get no closer as goals by Figge and Ericka Lorenz pushed things out to an 11-6 lead which was the final score. Betsey Armstrong went the whole way in net turning aside a variety of shots. Notes: The game followed a P.A.C.E. clinic run by Team USA that drew around 50 young ladies to the pool for several hours of instruction and mentoring. Lauren Wenger did not play due to injury. Flash Quotes: "We are a pretty young team, we came here to do our best and everyone is playing event minutes. We have 4 and a half years to go which is a good thing for preparation but not for Beijing." -- Patrick Oaten - Head Coach, Canada "When you make a mistake the USA will make you pay. Golda stepped up today, she is dangerous, a threat, she's got a powerful shot and if you have no field block set up she will make you pay." Patrick Oaten - Head Coach, Canada "I thought more positives than negatives, and this gives us some things to work on. We scored nine natural goals as we went 2-5 on 6x5 so that is good against a zone. I thought defensively we have got work to do. We haven't focused that much on defense lately so I didn't have high hopes for great defense but it gave us things to keep working on." -- Guy Baker - Head Coach, USA On playing at SMCHS "This facility is great and it is great to come down and play at Fig's (Figge) high school and she had a goal and now we get to play at Commerce (Wednesday) where Brenda and Patty played so it's great for us." -- Guy Baker - Head Coach, USA Scoring: USA - 11 (M. van Norman 3, N. Golda 2, B. Hayes 2, E. Lorenz 1, E. Figge 1, A. Gregorka 1, B. Villa CAN - 6 (K. Alogbo 3, J. Morisseau 1, J. Bekhazi, R. Tomiuk)