The USA beat Denmark, 3-0, in their opening game at the 2006 Nordic Cup, the under-21 womenÆs championship, in Norway. India Trotter, Danesha Adams and Katie Griffin scored for the USA in their Nordic Cup debuts.
The USA is going for its unprecedented eighth straight title. Iceland upset host Norway, 3-2, in the other Group B match, setting up a huge contest on Tuesday between the USA and Iceland that could decide the group title and a berth in the championship game. The winners of the two groups advance to the title game on July 22.
ôIt was a good start, not just the from standpoint of the result, but we were also able to get a lot of players their first Nordic Cup game under their belts,ö said U.S. head coach Jillian Ellis. ôWe have a lot of players that are fairly inexperienced at the international level, so to get a win like this in our first game is great. You always have to win the first game of the Nordic Cup to stay in the picture for the championship game, so I was very pleased with their performance today.ö
The USA dominated the match, firing 19 shots while allowing Denmark just two.
USA-DENMARK SUMMARY
July 16 in Stavanger
USA 3 Denmark 0. Goals: Trotter 31, Adams 32, Griffin 88.
USA — Henderson, Wilmoth, Buehler, Fletcher, Huffman, Taylor, Gray (Davis, 77), Woznuk (Keselica, 46), Adams (Moros, 87, Weimer (Cinalli, 66), Trotter (Griffin, 81).
Denmark — Pedersen, Egelund (Thomsen, 46), Mogensen, Caspersen, Munch, Andersen, Seier (Jacobsen, 77; Gregersen, 88), Christensen, Bastrup (Olesen, 77), Petersen (Greisen, 55), Henriksen (Nielsen, 56).
Referee: Wendy Thoms (England).
Att.: 100.