PRAGUE, Czech Republic (May 23, 2019) – The U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team earned its second shutout in as many games at the UEFA Women’s Development Tournament in the Czech Republic, rolling past the Republic of Ireland without allowing a shot on the way to a 4-0 victory.
The U.S. team was playing with an entirely different roster than the squad that swept three games at a similar UEFA Women’s Development Tournament the week before in Portugal.
For the second game in a row – after a 3-0 win over Czech Republic on May 21 – the USA scored early. This time is was midfielder Bella Sember in the 6th minute after she ran onto a through ball from forward Karlie Lema and finished with her left foot into the right side of the net from 18 yards out.
Lema bagged a goal herself, her second in as many games, on the cusp of halftime, intercepting a pass from an Ireland defender before finishing with her right foot into the upper right corner just over 18 yards away.
The third goal, which came in the 54th minute, also came from defensive pressure as midfielder Sophia Fisher dispossessed a defender, raced in on goal and finished from six yards out.
The final goal came seven minutes from time as Summer Denigan converted a penalty kick for her second goal in as many games.
The goals for Sember and Fisher were their first on the U-17 international level.
The USA will finish the tourney against Belgium on May 25. U.S. head coach Tracey Kevins brought a 20-player roster with all the players born in 2003, which is the birth cut off year for the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
To underline the development nature of the tournaments, each player must play at least 80 minutes across the three matches and UEFA recommends that each player should play no more than 120 minutes over two consecutive games.
– U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team Match Report –
Match: United States U-17 Women’s National Team vs. Republic of Ireland U-17 WNT
Date: May 23, 20019
Competition: UEFA Development Tournament
Venue: Stadium Přátelství; Prague, Czech Republic
Weather: 65 degrees, partly cloudy
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 2 2 4
IRL 0 0 0
USA – Bella Sember (Karlie Lema) 6th minute
USA – Karlie Lema 40
USA – Sophia Fisher 54
USA – Summer Denigan (Penalty Kick) 73
Lineups:
USA: 1-Jordyn Gunnarson, 2-Macy Blackburn (capt.) (3-Carolyn Calzada, 41), 14-Layne St. George, 16-Phoenix-Dawn Miranda, 4-Madeline Mooney (5-Aidan McConnell, 41), 6-Korbin Albert (10-Riley Gleason, 41), 18-Karlie Lema (7-Simisola Awujo, 41), 17-Emily Colton (24-Summer Denigan, 52), 9- Giovana Costa (8-Sophia Fisher, 52), 19-Bella Sember (21-Carina Lageyre, 41), 15-Josephine Master (11-Makhiya McDonald, 41)
Subs not used: 12-Haley Craig
Head Coach: Tracey Kevins
IRL: 1-Rugile Askalnyte, 2-Therese Kinnevey, 3-Shauna Brennan, 4-Jessie Stapleton (20-Kate O’Dowd, 58), 5-Delia Doherty (capt.), 6-Aoibheann Clancy (8-Teegan Lynch, 41), 7-Kerryanne Brown (14-Zoe Leonard, 73), 9-Erin McLaughlin (18-Anna Fahey, 58), 10-Ellen Molloy (13-Aoife Horgan, 58), 11-Rebecca Watkins (15-Hazel Cawley, 73), 19-Muireann Devaney
Subs not used: 12-Emer O’Neill, 16-Emma Ring, 17-Chellene Trill
Head Coach: Sue Ronan
Stats Summary: USA / IRL
Shots: 19 / 0
Shots on Goal: 12 / 0
Saves: 0 / 8
Corner Kicks: 6 / 2
Fouls: 5 / 3
Offside: 0 / 2
Misconduct Summary:
None