Three Domers lead USA to Australian Cup
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
With the stars of the 1999 Women's World Cup sitting out due to a salary dispute with USA Soccer, three members of the Irish women's soccer team had the opportunity to play on the U.S. National team and compete in the Australia Cup.
With star players like Mia Hamm and Kate Sobrero at home in the U.S., Irish stars Jenny Streiffer, LaKeysia Beene and Kelly Lindsey played key roles as the American women compiled a 2-0-1 record and won the Cup. Showing the world that future of women's soccer was just as bright as the present was a goal of the team, according to Streiffer.
"It was a weird situation because we didn't have much pressure and we weren't expected to do very well," she said. "We wanted to show that the future of women's soccer is strong."
Streiffer scored two goals and added two assists while Lindsey and Beene led a defense that allowed just two goals. The national team coaches had plenty of opportunities to evaluate the talent of the Irish players as Streiffer played 195 minutes at forward and Beene and Lindsey played every minute at goalkeeper and defensive back, respectively.
"[The coaches] are always evaluating you," Streiffer said. "So it was just another opportunity to show them how you can play."
The U.S. coaches were especially impressed with Beene's play.
"Several players made tremendous individual impacts on the games — LaKeysia Beene came up big when she needed to, and overall it was a great team win," Co-coach Jay Hoffman told the Associated Press.
In the opening game, Streiffer scored two goals and assisted on another as the U.S. cruised to an easy 8-1 victory over the Czech Republic.
In the second game, Beene picked up a shut out as the U.S. tied Sweden 0-0. Beene gave credit to the defense for the shutout.
"The defense was solid all game," she said in a prepared statement, "They really stuck into tackles and won most of the air balls, which was very important against Sweden because they have some big players. I couldn't be more confident in the defense,"
The Americans got back in the win column with a 3-1 win over the Australians. Since the U.S. out-scored its opponents by nine-point margin and Sweden out-scored its opponents by just four goals, the U.S. won the Cup.
Streiffer said the competition was similar to the teams she faced last summer as a member of the Nordic Cup-winning, U.S. Under-21 team.
"The team's we played weren't really at their peaks right now," she said. "They were basically equivalent to the U-21 teams we played this summer."
The chance to compete with her Irish teammates again was one of the most enjoyable parts of the tournament, according to Streiffer.
"I've played with Keysia a lot on those types of teams. She is always great and performs so well. I always have a lot of confidence in her," she said. "It was great to see Kelly playing. I was great to have them around. It helps you relax."
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 21, 2000
