Jen Streiffer’s golden goal in sudden-death overtime gave the U.S. U-20 women’s national team a 1-0 victory over Norway and the Nordic Cup title. Streiffer, who entered the match as a 98th-minute substitute for Meredith Florance, scored the gamewinner just after the start of the second overtime period. She collected a U.S. clearance at midfield and ran towards the Norwegian defense before sliding a pass to teammate Robin Confer on the right wing. Confer moved into the penalty box, drawing keeper Astrid Johannesen to the near post, and then passed the ball on the ground to Streiffer, who first-timed the ball into the open net from 12 yards out. “Our team is so united and we got goals from so many different people at this tournament,” Streiffer said afterwards. “When I came into the game, I knew Norway had been worn down by the team’s hard work, and, being fresh, I felt I’d get some chances to score. Robin gave me a very unselfish pass for the winning goal, which is representative of what our team has been about this whole year.” During regulation, Norway created the most scoring chances with its long-ball style of play, but U.S. keeper Lakeysia Beene played superbly. She flew backward to tip Ranghild Gulbrandsen’s shot off the crossbar on a corner kick in the 12th minute, and smothered a breakaway 25 minutes later. The U.S. had several excellent opportunities as well. Tiffany Roberts dribbled through the Norwegian defense on the right side and cracking a shot off the right post from a difficult angle. Confer had chances in the 61st minute, when she shot weakly at Johannesen, and in the 77th minute, when she broke through the left wing but was denied again by Norway’s keeper. “Our objective today was three-fold,” said U.S. coach Lauren Gregg. “The first of which was winning, and having participated in three world championship events previously, this game was one of the most exciting and hard fought games I’ve ever coached. The second objective was to prepare our young players for their future careers with the full U.S. national team, and finally to continue to establish the U.S. women’s national program as the best in the world from top to bottom. We want to develop an infrastructure that can win forever.”
Nordic Cup Placement Matches
First Place Aug. 8 in Korsar, Denmark USA 1 Norway 0. Goal: Streiffer 106. USA — Beene, Grubb, Sobrero, L.Fair, Roberts, Whelchel, Schwoy, French, Florance (Streiffer, 98), Confer, Parlow. Norway — Johannesen, Bekkevold, Bugge-Paulsen, Fagerend, Tonnesen, Saetre, Haugland, Gulbrandsen, Pedersen, Oermen, Rapp. Yellow cards: USA — Parlow 94, Sobrero 98. Referee: Geja Muder (Netherlands). Att.: 250. Third Place
Denmark 0 Finland 1 Fifth Place
Germany 2 Sweden 1 Seventh Place
Netherlands 1 Iceland 0 (OT) Aug. 7 Results and Final First-Round Standings
Group A Norway 3 Germany 1 Finland 2 Netherlands 1
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| TEAM | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | P |
| Norway | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 9 |
| Finland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
Note: Finland won a penalty shootout with Germany after playing to a 1-1 tie Aug. 5, so it advanced to play for third place.
Group B Denmark 1 USA 3 Sweden 1 Iceland 0
| |
| TEAM | GP | W | T | L | GF | GA | P |
| USA | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| Denmark | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 6 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Iceland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
