Terp Quartet Leading U.S. Under-21 Field Hockey Team At Pan American Junior Championship
4/17/2000 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
April 17, 2000
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Four players who helped lead the University of Maryland field hockey team to the 1999 Division I national championship are competing for the U.S. Under-21 Team at the fourth Pan American Junior Championships. Juniors Keli Smith (Selinsgrove, Pa.) and Carla Tagliente (Cortland, N.Y.) and sophomores Autumn Welsh (Macungie, Pa.) and Dina Rizzo (Walpole, Mass.) have been major contributors in the United States' two victories in its first two games.
The United States has won its first two games with a 5-0 victory over Barbados on April 14 and a 5-2 win against Canada on April 16. The tournament, which features teams from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, serves as a qualifying event for the 2001 FIH Junior World Cup in Buenos Aires. The top two finishers in the tournament are expected to qualify for the 2001 Junior World Cup.
Tagliente, Smith and Rizzo all contributed goals as the U.S. opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over Barbados on April 14. Tagliente scored the team's second goal of the first half and helped the U.S. take a 2-0 halftime lead. Smith scored on a penalty corner nine minutes into the second half to put the U.S. up 3-0 and Rizzo closed out the scoring with a field goal at the 56-minute mark.
Smith added her second goal of the tournament and Welsh scored her first as the U.S. defeated Canada, 5-2, on April 16. She scored a first half field goal to tie the game at 1-1 and Welsh scored the game-winner on a penalty stroke late in the first half.
The U.S. can clinch the top spot in Pool B with a win of draw against Venezuela in its next game. Defending champion and tournament favorite Argentina leads Pool A and is followed by Chile and Bermuda.
Game 1 (April 14 at Bridgetown) USA 2 3 - 5 Barbados 0 0 - 0GOALS: USA - Abbey Wooley (pc, 2:00), Carla Tagliente (fg, 5:00), Keli Smith (pc, 44:00), Jessica Coleman (fg, 48:00), Dina Rizzo (fg, 56:00). Barbados: None. USA Starters: Autumn Welsh (Maryland), Carla Tagliente (Maryland), Carrie Lingo (North Carolina), Kristi Gannon (San Pasqual H.S.), Abbey Wooley (North Carolina), Jill Martz (Penn State), Keli Smith (Maryland), Robyn Kenney (Boston University), Amy Tran (North Carolina), Maegan Galie (Penn State), Maria Whitehead (Wake Forest). SUBS: Dina Rizzo (Maryland), April Fronzoni (Wyoming Valley West H.S.), Jessica Coleman (Virginia).
Game 2 (April 16 at Bridgetown) USA 3 2 - 5 Canada 2 0 - 2GOALS: USA - Keli Smith (fg), Abbey Wooley (pc), Autumn Welsh (ps), April Fronzoni (fg), Jill Martz (ps). USA Starters: Autumn Welsh (Maryland), Carla Tagliente (Maryland), Carrie Lingo (North Carolina), Kristi Gannon (San Pasqual H.S.), Abbey Wooley (North Carolina), Jill Martz (Penn State), Keli Smith (Maryland), Robyn Kenney (Boston University), Amy Tran (North Carolina), Maegan Galie (Penn State), April Fronzoni (Wyoming Valley West H.S.). SUBS: Dina Rizzo (Maryland), Melanie Meerschwam (Princeton), Tiffany Leister (Iowa), Jessica Coleman (Virginia).
