U.S. Beach WNT Falls to No. 1-Ranked Spain at 2023 Mundialito Tournament

AYAMONTE, SPAIN (Oct. 14, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s Beach Soccer National Team fought hard and received a brace from Lauren Leslie, but ultimately felt 5-2 to world No. 1-ranked Spain on Matchday Two of the 2023 Women’s Mundialito Beach Soccer Tournament.

Spain ran out to a 2-0 lead inside the first eight minutes. The hosts opened the scoring a little over four minutes in, as Andrea Alcaide collected the ball on the right and cut across for Cristina Gonzalez who sliced her right-footed effort inside the left post. About three minutes later, Carolina Gonzalez intercepted a clearance out of the back and fired a low effort inside the left post to make it 2-0.

The USA responded almost immediately as Lauren Leslie received a pass from Ali Hall on the right and hit a beautiful, long-distance effort that beat Spain goalkeeper Laura Gallego before tucking inside the top left corner.

With about three minutes left, USA captain Ali Hall ensured the team would go into the first intermission behind by just a goal when she headed Carolina Gonzalez’s effort off the line.

The U.S. began the second period with Gabby Batmani replacing Melissa Lowder in goal, and at the other end, did well to create two strong chances.

Following a Spain handball at midfield two minutes in, Hannah Adler blasted the ensuing free kick towards goal, forcing a diving stop out of substitute Spain ‘keeper Andrea Lloret. About two minutes later, Leslie beat the last Spanish defender to break in one-on-one with Llorente, but again the Spanish ‘keeper dove to her right to make a point-blank save.

Despite the attacking momentum for the U.S., Spain stayed patient and restored their two-goal lead just over six minutes into the second period. With her back to goal on the left, Natalia Cuadrado flicked the ball up before slamming a bicycle kick past Batmani to make it 3-1.

Spain extended their lead with two more goals in the first six minutes of the third period. Two minutes in, Carolina Gonzalez gathered the ball on the right and quickly picked out the run of Lorena Asensio who slipped her effort home at the near post. Four minutes later, Adriana Manau threaded through two U.S. defenders before rifling a strong effort that Batmani got a hand to before it trickled over the goal line, taking the score to 5-1.

With just under five minutes left, the USA’s Lauren Leslie cut back into the Spanish lead, beating her marker before unleashing a low, right-footed blast that skipped past Spain goalkeeper Laura Gallego and inside the left post to close the scoring at 5-2. With her two goals, Leslie collected her second career brace and now has 14 international goals in 18 appearances.

The USA took an injury blow late in the match, when Kilee Quigley suffered a hard foul and had to be helped off the pitch. Her availability for Sunday’s tournament finale against England is uncertain.

NEXT UP: The USA closes out the 2023 Women’s Mundialito Beach Soccer Tournament against England on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 8 a.m. ET. Fans can watch the match live on ESPN3 and BeachSoccerTV.com.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Lauren Leslie recorded her second career brace and first since her second cap on Aug. 4, 2019 vs. El Salvador. Leslie now has 14 goals in 20 career appearances, and sits just one goal back of Kilee Quigley (15 goals in 19 appearances) for the USBWNT’s all-time scoring lead.
  
• Leslie is also became the second USBWNT player to break the 20-cap threshold today. 
• Ali Hall collected her third career assist on Leslie’s first goal, while Quigley got her second career assist on Leslie’s second goal.
• Goalkeeper Gabby Batmani replaced Melissa Lowder at the start of the second period and remained in goal through the rest of the match.
• Now with 23 caps, Jeané Sunseri-Warp continued her streak of appearing in every USBWNT match since the program launched in 2019.
• The USBWNT moves to 5-3-0 in 2023 and 11-12-0 in 23 all-time matches.

-U.S. WOMEN’S BEACH SOCCER NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-

Match: United States Beach Soccer Women’s National Team vs. Spain
Date: October 14, 2023
Competition: 2023 Women’s Mundialito Beach Soccer Tournament
Venue: Isla Canela Beach Stadium; Ayamonte, Spain
Attendance: 550
Kickoff: 10:45 a.m. ET (4 :45 p.m. local time)
Weather: 80 degrees

Scoring Summary:   1          2          3          F
USA                            1          0          1          2
ESP                             2          1          2          5

ESP - Cristina Gonzalez                                 8:13 (1st Period)
ESP - Carolina Gonzalez                                4:21 (1st)
USA - Lauren Leslie    (Ali Hall)                     4:18 (1st)
ESP – Natalia Cuadrado                                5:34 (2nd)
ESP – Lorena Asensio                                    9:46 (3rd)
ESP – Adriana Manau                                    6:23 (3rd)
USA - Lauren Leslie (Kilee Quigley)              4:35 (3rd)

Lineups:
USA: 12-Melissa Lowder, 3-Hannah Adler, 9-Kilee Quigley, 10-Ali Hall (Captain), 11-Rachel Hunter
Substitutes: 1-Gabriella Batmani, 2-Nikki Haimes, 4-Kelly Garzon, 5-Makenzie Chronopoulus, 6-Jeane Sunseri-Warp, 7-Lauren Leslie, 8-Ashley Triplett
Head coach: Morgan Church

ESP: 13-Laura Gallego (Captain), 3-Andrea Alcaide, 5-Adriana Manau, 6-Lydia Raja, 11-Cris Gonzalez Chavez
Substitutes: 1-Delia Baz, 9-Carol Gonzalez, 10-Jessi, 14-Cris Dominguez, 15-Lorena Asensio, 17-Natalia Cuadrado Pedreño, 22-Andrea Lloret
Head coach: Cristian Mendez Lacarcel

Misconduct Summary:
ESP - Jessi (Caution)                                     8:12 (2nd)
ESP - Cris Gonzalez Chavez (Caution)         3:18 (2nd)
ESP - Alcaide (Caution)                                 10:02 (3rd)

Officials:
1st Referee: Raffaele Delvecchio  (SMR)
2nd Referee: Francisco Costa  (POR)
3rd Referee: Dario Minder (SUI)
Timekeeper: Francisco Bumedien (ESP