Going For The Gold - Part 1

While most of the world was watching the World Cup in South Africa, over in Sweden sports history was also being made. For the first time an international tournament featuring women football players was being held in Stockholm. The United States was represented with players from the IWFL and most importantly by 5 players from the New York Sharks.

After 3 days of training in Austin, Texas, 45 players and coaches flew to Sweden. Once in Sweden, the #1 seed team in the tournament had 1 day to practice before taking on their first opponent Austria. Team Austria was ranked #4 and women have been playing football in that country since 1994.

How the Americans would fare against foreign competition was anyone's guess. The United States was favored but no one had seen any of the other countries play before so it was a big unknown. Team USA received the opening kick-off but they started off tentatively and were soon forced to punt.

The defense held and the USA offense was back on the field. Whatever jitters the offense may have had in the first possession soon went away as New York Sharks wide receiver Adrienne Smith scored the first touchdown with a 52-yard touchdown pass reception. It was actually more run than pass as quarterback Sami Grisafe from the Chicago Force threw a short side line pass to the right. Smith caught the ball and then streaked down the right sideline for the score. It put the Americans in the lead and they never looked back.

Team USA completely dominated Austria in all aspects of the game. They scored on 9 of 12 drives and the defense held the opposition to only 57 yards, mostly on the legs of Raiffeisen Lady Vikings running back Marie-Theres Michelitsch.

New York Sharks Jennifer Blum also got into the action with a 14-yard touchdown catch to give the United States a 19-0 lead. Other Sharks also got into the game, Melissa Pickett played center, Karen Mulligan played on the offensive line, and Lauren Pringle played in the secondary.

The final score was USA 63 - Austria 0. Kansas City Tribe wide receiver Rusty Sowers was named the USA MVP for her 5 catches for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns. Dallas Diamonds running back Jessica Springer also starred, rushing for 120 yards on 12 carries and scoring 1 touchdown.

Team USA (1-0) plays Finland (1-0) next on Thursday. The winner of this game will go on to play in the Gold Medal round on Saturday. Finland also defeated Austria by the score of 50-16.

WWC USA vs Austria from BoisEntertainment on Vimeo.