A late equaliser twenty-one seconds from time by Jordan Raney rescued a 10-10 draw for the United States against Australia to kickstart the first of four exhibition games down under.
Australia 10 – 10 United States (2-2, 6-2, 2-3, 0-3)
Australia: G. Longman, P. Casey 1, E. Armit 3, D. Jackovich, B. Leeson-Smith, J. Oberman 2, J. Emerson, S. Hearn, Z. Arancini 3, M. Steere 1, S. Pontre, B. McClean, L. Hedges
USA: A. Johnson, M. Musselman 2, T. Prentice, R. Fattal 2, J. Sekulic 2, M. Steffens, E. Ausmus, A. Stryker, D. Mammolito, R. Gazzaniga, J. Bonaguidi, J. Raney 4, A. Longan
The Stingers will be kicking themselves for not coming away with a win, after a blistering second quarter saw them take an 8-4 lead at halftime and a three-goal advantage heading into the fourth.
The USA fought back well though, spearheaded by a wonderful fourth quarter hat-trick by Jordan Raney.
While Australia couldn’t fend off the reigning Olympic and World Championships, it’s a decent showing from the hosts – who were spurred on by a wonderful crowd in Perth.
Local hero and Stinger skipper Zoe Arancini led from the front with three well-taken strikes, while Elle Armit looked really sharp, also converting three times.
Raney really dug her team out of a hole in the last period, with a hat-trick in the fourth quarter, including that late leveller from the 5m penalty line. Maddie Musselman marked her return to the national team with a brace.
The two-teams do it all again in two days time (13th January) at 12:30pm CET.
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