USA Qualifies for Jr World Championships / Rematch with Mexico Tonight for Gold Medal

Share:

by USA Team Handball

(USA Jr Women and staff after their win vs Puerto Rico)

The U.S. played Puerto Rico in their last pool play match on Wednesday and it did not take them long to bounce back from Tuesday's disappointing loss to Mexico.  Puerto Rico got the first goal of the game, but then the U.S. went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-1 lead.  Puerto Rico managed to score a goal and then the U.S. promptly went on a 9-0 run to make the score 16-2.  Puerto Rico was simply not on the same level as the more experience U.S. team.  With the match well in hand, Coach Rot, cleared the bench and gave more playing time to some of the athletes who had seen less action in the previous matches.  The U.S. had a very balanced scoring attack with 13 of the 16 athletes on the roster scoring.  The match was never in doubt and the final score was 32-14.

Post Match Interview with USA Head Coach, Craig Rot:  Part 1 Part 2 

The U.S then had to wait the outcome of the Mexico-Canada match to see if they would qualify for the Jr World Championships and the Gold Medal Match.  Thanks to their wins over Canada and Puerto Rico the U.S. had four points to Canada's two points in the standings.  However, a Canadian win over Mexico would result in a three way tie (Mexico, Canada, USA) on 4 points and the U.S. would likely finish 3rd in goal differential.   The Canadians managed to keep the match close for the first ten minutes, but Mexico gradually pulled away and put the match out of reach.  The final score was Mexico, 31, Canada, 17. 

Mexico and the U.S. are now qualified for the Jr World Championships to played this summer in Slovenia from 22 June to 3 July.  This will be the first time the U.S. has participated in a Jr World Championships since 1981.  Next Wednesday, 13 April, the U.S. will learn who its opponents will be in Group Play: Link

Rematch with Mexico for Championship Title

Tonight the U.S. gets a rematch vs Mexico in the Gold Medal Championship game.  Mexico dominated their pool play match 26-14 and it should be interesting to see the tactical adjustments both teams will make with a title on the line.  The match can be seen live at 7:00 PM (US ET) on the Mexico Olympic Committee Facebook page: Link

Final Round Robin Standings

Rank Nation Win Draw Loss Points Goal Differential Goals For Goals Against
1 Mexico 3 0 0 6 +65 111 46
2 USA 2 0 1 4 +9 71 62
3 Canada 1 0 2 2 +3 71 68
4 Puerto Rico 0 0 3 0 -77 41 -118

 

USA Scoring

  • Eden Nesper (6)
  • Daisy Licea (5)
  • Isabella Da Cruz (4)
  • Ariane Clerc (4)
  • Gabrielle Martin (3)
  • Viva Kreis (2)
  • Emma Ready (2)
  • Amanda Sumalla (1)
  • Vanessa Binderis (1)
  • Julia Rienhardt (1)
  • Hanna Faulkner (1)
  • Hannah Perkins (1)
  • Lovisa Dobreff (1)

Puerto Rico Scoring

  • Asanti Calderon (4)
  • Cyolimar Ortiz (2)
  • Natasha Escobar (2)
  • Jirellys Betancourt (2)
  • Edianed Benitez (1)
  • D'Angel Rodriguez (1)
  • Dana Canales (1)
  • Zaira Aponte (1)

Match Video: Link (USA - MEX match starts at 2:04:45)

Photo Library: Link (Photos: Marcos Dominguez)

Event Page (with data from all matches): Link

 

Read More#