U.S. women

Tarpley goal ignites 2-0 victory over Canada for Four Nations crown.

Lindsay Tarpley, the SoccerTimes.com collegiate women's "Player of the Year" led the Four Nations Tournament in goals with the first three of her international career -- U.S. soccer photo by Tony Quinn --

SHENZHEN, China (Tuesday, February 3, 2004) -- Striker Lindsay Tarpley scored early, propelling the United States women to a 2-0 decision over Canada and a repeat Four Nations Tournament title before an estimated 1,000 on a cold, wet afternoon at Shenzhen Stadium.

The U.S. finished 2-0-1 with seven points. After China's 2-2 draw with Sweden, China finshed 1-0-2, Sweden 1-1-1 and Canada 0-3.

The U.S. did not allow a shot on goal or concede a corner kick, holding a 10-2 edge in total shots.

Tarpley, 20, was the captain of the 2002 U.S. under-19 world championship team and the 2003 SoccerTimes.com Women's "Player of the Year" in leading University of North Carolina to a 27-0 record and the NCAA Division I championship. She scored twice in the Americans' opening 3-0 triumph Friday against Sweden and led the event in goals with the first three of her senior international career.

"Tarpley's three goals was a great performance for a young player," U.S. coach April Heinrichs said. "She showed she could contribute with her passing as well."

After experiencing good weather since the U.S. arrived for the tournament, a steady drizzle fell throughout the match and temperatures dropped into the low 40s.

"The thing I'm most pleased about is that we got better every game," Heinrichs said. "The American teams want to go forward. We attack aggressively and sometimes we lack patience. During the course of this tournament, we showed great patience in picking and choosing the point of attack and as a result we got behind Canada upwards of 20 times tonight. If you can convert that statistic to chances on goal, you're going to win games consistently."

In the 13th minute, forward Shannon MacMillan took a throw-in from the right touch line and sent it into the penalty area. A cutting Tarpley let the ball skip past her body while rolling around Canada defender Charmaine Hooper. Tarpley then darted toward the near post and stuck a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc into the net from four yards.

Lindsay Tarpley

"The tournament was just a lot of fun," Tarpley said. "To play these three teams was a great learning experience for all the young players. The veterans have been great in helping us get adjusted to this level and it gives us confidence to know that we can help the team win in a tournament like this."

Heinrichs made four changes from the lineup that started the previous two games, giving goalkeeper Siri Mullinix the nod, as well as giving first career starts to Heather Mitts at right back, Leslie Osborne at right midfield and central defender Amy LePeilbet.

"Amy LePeilbet's performance was outstanding," said Heinrichs of the defender's second international appearance. "She was very strong in the air, won almost every ball and has great recovery speed. The young players stepped into a pressure environment in some of their first appearances for the national team and positively impacted our performance."

Defender Kate Markgraf (nee Sobrero) created the second goal, sending a perfect pass to striker Abby Wambach behind the Canadian defense on the left flank in the 80th minute. Wambach cut hard toward goal and was about to shoot when defender Marie-Eve Nault cut her down. Defender Joy Fawcett nailed the penalty into the right corner for her 27th international goal and a 2-0 lead.

"Joy was once again remarkably consistent from the first five minutes of a game to the last five minutes and from the first game to the third game," Heinrichs said. "You don't toss aside good players just because of their age (36 next Sunday). You look at veteran players like Joy and see that she is focused, performing at a high level and giving us great leadership. The rest of the teams in the world would be lucky to have a player of her experience, sophistication and speed at the back."

The U.S. did not allow Canada to take a shot until the 34th minute, and that was a weak effort. Canada midfielder Veronique Maranda managed the other shot, spinning and shooting just past the left post in the 78th minute, three minutes before Fawcett's clincher. "One of our team goals was to have three shutouts and it's a real tribute to the six defenders and two goalkeepers we played," said Heinrichs. "They were very focused on limiting shots on goal, not giving up goals at crucial moments and staying concentrated, focused and compact in the back. If you want to win games consistently, you have to focus on shutouts."

Midfielder Kristine Lilly, Fawcett and Markgraf were the only players to play all 270 minutes of the tournament. The Americans return home tomorrow and then have a little more than a week off before heading to Costa Rica in preparation for the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament February 25-March 5. It will be the first ever trip to Central America for the U.S. women.

"If you are going to prepare for Olympic qualifying in such a short time, there is no better way than 13 days of training and 12 days in China with games against three of the best teams in the world," Heinrichs said.

In today's second match, Therese Sjogran gave Sweden a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute, bending a perfect shot from 19 yards off the right post and in.

China tied it at 1-1 seven minutes later on Li Jie's penalty kick.

Sweden took the lead 2-1 in the 82nd minute when reserve forward Josfine Osqvist scored on a breakaway.

China tied the game in the 90th minute when Han Duan roofed a rebound from eight yards.

Referee: Zhang Dong Qing (China). Referee assistants: Fu Hong Jue (China), Deng Jun Xia (China). Attendance: 1,000 (estimated) at Shenzhen (China) Stadium. Weather: Cold, rainy, wet, 42 degrees.