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SUNBURY, UK – The USA Women’s National Team put in a strong second half showing, but could not muster enough scoring oomph to rebound from a 29-0 halftime deficit, falling to an experienced England A squad 34-17 on December 12 at London Irish ARFC, Sunbury. England A’s Samantha Dale (Worcester) got her team out to an early lead, touching down in the left corner inside the forth minute and No. 8 Heidi Shelburg (Wasps) drove in another try, with Shelly Rae kicking the extras to put England up 10-0 three minutes later. Vicky Massarella (Saracens), Gemma Sharples and Dale would also touch down across the try line before the break, to give However, the USA Women’s Eagles refused to go down without a fight after the restart. Scrumhalf Kim Magrini (Keystone) led the charge with a try in minute 45 and Melissa Smit booted in the conversion to cut England A’s lead to 29-7. England was able to capitalize on Emilie Bydwell's (Brown University) trip to the sin-bin, responding with their final try of the match from substitute Charlotte Boggis (Clifton), but the USA remained steadfast toward the try zone. The Women’s Eagles put up the final numbers with Nathalie Marchino (Berkeley All-Blues) and Kristen Zdanczewicz (Minnesota Valkyries) running in two late tries to bring the final score to 34-17.
“We were very disappointed in the first 20 minutes of the game when we saw 17 points scored against us. However, after halftime adjustments and several key substitutions, we were able to capitalize on the mistakes forced by our defense," USA Women's National Team Coach Kathy Flores said following the match. "To their credit, The For more information on the USA Women’s National Team and to keep up on the squad’s tour journal, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/women_eagles. Tries: Kim Magrini (Keystone), Nathalie Marchino ( Conversions: Melissa Smit ( Tries: Samantha Dale ( Conversions: Shelly Rae (Wasps) - 2 |