U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team Beats Australia 11-0 in Historic Match with Record-Setting Six-Goal Performance from Emily Spreeman

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (June 1, 2024) – The U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team defeated Australia 11-0 in a historic match which marked the first U.S. Extended National Team doubleheader with a senior U.S. National Team, the first time an ENT has played on television in a U.S. Soccer-controlled match, and the first time an ENT has had a title sponsor for one of its games with support from Volkswagen, U.S. Soccer’s presenting partner.

The U.S. set the tempo immediately, wasting no time as they sent a few warning shots on the visitors within the first five minutes. The team’s efforts paid dividends early as the first goal landed in the sixth minute and Spreeman opened her tally on what would be an amazing individual performance for her, while also setting the stage for an incredibly dominant performance with her attacking partners Hunter and Khachadourian.

The trio each tallied a goal from the sixth to 11th minutes to give the team a comfortable lead early on, while Spreeman added tallies in the 21st and 34th minutes to complete her sixth career hat trick and set up Hunter with her second of the day in the 37th, sending the Deaf WNT into the halftime break with a 6-0 advantage.

The second half was a similar story as Spreeman added her fourth of the day in the 50th minute, before setting up Beaudry for her first international goal just six minutes later. Spreeman struck again in the 60th minute after capitalizing on a poor clearance inside the visitors’ box, before breaking the Deaf WNT’s single-game scoring record with her sixth of the afternoon after burying a left-footed strike on a breakaway in the 66th minute.

Shysh then put the finishing touch on the match in the 81st minute as she finished off a brilliant through-ball from Spreeman to score her first career goal in just her second appearance. When all was said and done, Spreeman ended the match with an impressive four assists to complement her six goals.

With the win, the Deaf WNT has gone a remarkable 38-0-1 in 39 all-time matches, outscoring its opponents 188-15.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN:

USA – Emily Spreeman (Ani Khachadourian), 6th minute: Khachadourian dribbled out of pressure on the right wing with strong physical play to keep the ball and sent a cross into the box, where Spreeman rose to bury a header from 10 yards out. USA 1, AUS 0

USA – Ani Khachadourian (Sydney Andrews), 9th minute: Andrews played Khachadourian with a pass just past midfield. She turned and dribbled up the middle of the pitch, evading pressure with a clever stepover before firing low and to the left from 20 yards to double the lead. USA 2, AUS 0

USA – Holly Hunter (Emily Spreeman), 11th minute: As Australia tried to play out of the back, Spreeman pounced to force a turnover inside their own box, where she squared a pass to Hunter as the goalkeeper rushed out for a tap-in finish from point-blank range into an open net. USA 3, AUS 0

USA – Emily Spreeman, 21st minute: Khachadourian fired a powerful strike from outside the box and was denied by the crossbar, but Spreeman sprinted into the box and got the rebound, unmarked, and finished calmly from eight yards out. USA 4, AUS 0

USA – Emily Spreeman, 33rd minute: Khachadourian received the ball outside the box and did well to dribble out of pressure. She fired on target and the Australia goalkeeper made a good save, but Spreeman jumped on the rebound and finished into an open net. USA 5, AUS 0

USA – Holly Hunter (Emily Spreeman), 37th minute: Spreeman received the ball on a breakaway and dribbled into the box. She cleverly waited to invite pressure as the back line recovered and split two defenders with a pass to find Hunter, who finished the one-on-one against the goalkeeper with a calm finish from close range. USA 6, AUS 0

USA – Emily Spreeman (Emma Neff), 50th minute: Neff found a rebound near the top of the box and lobbed a pass for Spreeman, who turned and fired a left-footed half volley from 10 yards out to add her fourth goal of the night. USA 7, AUS 0

USA – Paige Beaudry (Emily Spreeman), 56th minute: Beaudry got the ball on the left wing and played a wall pass off Spreeman. She dribbled into the box and slotted a low shot past the goalkeeper at the near post to add her name to the score sheet and tally her first international goal. USA 8, AUS 0

USA – Emily Spreeman, 60th minute: Australia defender Omelia Odell attempted to clear an aerial pass into the box, but accidentally deflected the ball into Spreeman inside the box. USA 9, AUS 0

USA – Emily Spreeman (Faith Wiley), 66th minute: The U.S. broke away and Wiley got the ball on the right wing, from where she played a low ball across to Spreeman. From there, she dribbled into the box and beat the goalkeeper with a left-footed shot for her team-record sixth goal of the match. USA 10, AUS 0

USA – Sabina Shysh (Emily Spreeman), 81st minute: Spreeman played a brilliant through-ball to find Shysh in on goal. She dribbled into the box and set herself up for a clever finish on the near post from six yards out that bounced off the upright and into the back of the net.USA 11, AUS 0

Additional Notes:

• With her sixth goals, Emily Spreeman set a new Deaf WNT record for goals in a match. The previous record of five was held by two players: Erin Coppedge (Jan. 11, 2005 vs. Australia; 2005 Deaflympics) and Ani Khachadourian (May 9, 2022 vs. Kenya; 2022 Deaflympics).
• Spreeman’s six goals are also the most by a U.S. Soccer senior national team player in an 11-a-side match, encompassing the U.S. Women’s National Team, U.S. Men’s National Team, U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team and U.S. Men’s Deaf National Team.
• Spreeman, who won U.S. Soccer’s 2023 Female Deaf Player of the Year on the strength of 13 goals and five assists at the Deaf World Championships, extended her all-time leading scoring tally to 33 goals in 24 caps. A two-time Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner at the 2016 and 2023 World Deaf Football Championships, Spreeman is the only player on the roster that was part of the USA’s inaugural Deaflympics squad in 2005 where she started all six matches as a 15-year-old.
• Holly Hunter’s brace took her international tally to seven goals in six caps for the Deaf WNT.
• Ani Khachadourian scored her eighth international goal in her 10th USDWNT appearance.
• Paige Beaudry and Sabina Shysh each tallied their first international goals.
• With the win, the USA is now 2-0-0 against Australia. The team’s previous win came on Jan. 11, 2005 at the Deaflympics in Melbourne. In that match, the USA’s Erin Coppedge set a team record at the time with five goals to go along with another from substitute Austra Blooms in helping the Deaf WNT claim a 6-0 victory.

- U.S. WOMENS DEAF NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT -

Match: United States Women’s Deaf National Team vs. Australia
Date: June 1, 2024
Competition: International Friendly
Venue: Dick’s Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colo.
Attendance:
Kickoff: 2:08 p.m. ET (12:08 p.m. local)
Weather: 84 degrees, sunny

Scoring Summary:  1 2  F
USA 6 5 11
AUS 0 0 0

USA – Emily Spreeman (Ani Khachadourian) 6th minute
USA - Ani Khachadourian (Sydney Andrews) 8th
USA – Holly Hunter (Emily Spreeman) 11th
USA – Emily Spreeman 21st
USA – Emily Spreeman 33rd
USA – Holly Hunter (Emily Spreeman) 37th
USA – Emily Spreeman (Emma Neff) 49th
USA – Paige Beaudry (Emily Spreeman) 57th
USA - Emily Spreeman 61st 
USA – Emily Spreeman (Faith Wiley) 66th
USA – Sabinha Shysh (Emily Spreeman) 81st

Lineups:
USA: 1-Taegan Frandsen; 17-Mia White, 11-Sydney Andrews, 3-Paige Beaudry, 2-Kate Ward (Capt.) (6-Mia McMurry, 63), 5-Gracie Fitzgerald,8-Erin Cembrale (16-Emma Neff, 37), 9-Ani Khachadourian (18-Faith Wylie, 46), 14-Paris Price (7-Sabina Shysh, 64), 4-Holly Hunter (12-Sophie Post, 46), 10-Emily Spreeman
Substitutes Not Used: 15-Beth Barbiers, 20-Hannah Romero
Head coach: Amy Griffin

AUS: 1-Justeen Kruger; 17-Tegan Blanch (2-Isla Custovic, 90), 15-Tahlia Zanardi, 6-Rylee Woods (12-Mikaela Magro, 46), 4-Jayde Dickerson (5-Ruby Miller, 23)( 19-Rona Lazo, 90), 9-Adelaide Wyrzynski, 16-Jessica Waters (Capt.), 21-Ella Kirby, 8-Saskia Newman, 10-Amelia Odell, 11-Kirsten Campton (14-Christabel Webber, 90)
Substitutes Not Used: 20-Diana Ciuffetelli, 7-Henrika New
Head coach: James Lambert

Stats Summary: USA / AUS
Shots: 43 / 1
Shots on Goal: 29 / 1
Saves: 1 / 18
Corner Kicks: 9 / 1
Offside: 6 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
none

Officials:
Referee: Andrew Kirst (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Joshua Belzer (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Rupert (USA)
4th Official: Marcelo Soto (USA)

Michelob Ultra Woman of the Match: Emily Spreeman