England beaten by US in semis
England started in fighting fashion against the United States
in tonight's semi-final clash, but the defending champions
were just too good here at the World Championship.
Lois Richardson's England led 2-1 after goals from Ailsa
Stott and an own-goal from Kelly Amonte Hiller.
But the U.S. fought back to triumph 13-3, their second triumph
over England at this Championship.
Sarah Butt was also on the scoreheet for England, but they
never recovered having been 8-2 behind at half-time.
'We had a great ten minutes, but if you can't convert you
can't compete with them forever,' said Richardson.
'We grafted for everything, but they (the US) are like a
machine. There was some great fighting on, but they were too
strong for us.'
England, though, did have their chances and if it had not
been for six saves from U.S. keeper Christine Lindsey, then
the national side might have been close to the hosts by the
interval.
The U.S. replaced their goalie at half-time, but Jess Wilk
performed well, with four saves to keep England at bay.
England keeper Rachana Shetty made nine saves for the 2001
bronze-medal winners, but even her heroics could stop the
U.S. from finding the net after some good moves.
The only other down side of an otherwise gritty and determined
from England was injuries ahead of tomorrow's bronze-medal
play-off game against either Canada or Australia.
Midfielder Sophie Gapper managed just a few minutes of tonight's
clash with the U.S., but had to replaced with her hamstring-injury.
Gapper has already missed two matches, against Wales and
Germany.
Katy Bennett, who has been improving with each game, is also
struggling to be fit after suffering an leg injury. She has
bad bruising and was quick to receive ice treatment after
the match.
Defender Justine Hunt, one of the mainstay's of England's
defence, is also facing a fitness battle after suffering a
leg-injury.
She, like Bennett and Gapper, were all heavily strapped with
support bandages for the U.S. match.
'We've got a few injuries, but there's only one day to go,
so we'll see how everyone is tomorrow morning,' added Richardson.
The U.S. had star midfielder Crista Samaras, a local girl
from Annapolis, to thank for four goals, a performance which
yielded her the MVP award.
Quinn Carney scored a hat-trick to become the U.S. team's
leading World Cup scorer of all time.
Midfielder Carney now has 35 World Cup career goals, bettering
Kathleen Geiger's 33 goals, achieved over the course of three
World Cups (89, 93 and 97 respectively).
However, Carney's impressive record has been registered over
the course of two World Cups.
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