In terms of depth, eight U.S. players scored Tuesday, a trend that has been common for the U.S. Team at these Games. Their shot percentage was more than 43 percent, compared with Brazil’s 15 percent.
“We feel we play our best when we’re balanced in our scoring, rather than just a couple of players scoring,” head coach Guy Baker said. “The players are selected (for the national team) primarily on their defensive ability, but it’s also important how they play offensively. I think it’s also a reflection of the balance in the minutes (playing time) they’re all getting. And then that they all feel confident that if they’re in the position to shoot, then they should take that opportunity.”
Leading the U.S. Team once again was captain attacker Brenda Villa (Commerce, Calif.), along with defender Elsie Windes (Portland, Ore.). Both women had two goals.
Brazil (2-2) came out with a conservative, defensive strategy. When their shot clock ticked low, the team would give up the ball in order to get into defense position and avoid fast break situations by the U.S. Team. The animated crowd often cheered for more offensive shots, but nonethless, applauded and rooted wildly for their home team throughout the game.
“The crowd’s great,” Villa said. “The energy just gets you fired up. We get motivated by it. It’s always great to beat the hometown team at their pool. It gives you extra confidence. The noise was hard at first because it’s hard to hear your teammates, so we had to be extra attentive.”
The U.S. Team has been slowly notching victories against all of its round robin competitors, including Canada (10-8), Cuba (14-6) and Venezuela (21-3). For their final round robin game, the U.S. will face Puerto Rico on Wednesday, a team that stands 1-3 at the Pan Am Games. Semi-final competition begins Thursday, and based on the team records, the U.S. is guaranteed to be the first seed. With this seed they will compete against the fourth-seeded team at 6 p.m.
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