Jen Buczkowski's goal gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead early in the second half of its 4-0 win over Iceland at the Nordic Cup.

Jen Buczkowski Scores In USA's 4-0 Win Over Iceland At Nordic Cup

July 20, 2005

KRISTINEHAMN, Sweden – Notre Dame junior-to-be midfielder Jen Buczkowski scored the second goal of the game early in the second half, helping the United States Under-21 National Team post a 4-0 opening win Wednesday night over Iceland in the 15th annual Nordic Cup, the world’s top youth soccer tournament.

The U.S. dominated the run of play at Brovallen Stadium, with a 27-5 shot edge and a 10-1 margin in corner kicks.

North Carolina forward Heather O’Reilly added two goals and Portland’s Megan Rapinoe rounded out the scoring for the U.S., which next plays on Friday vs. Denmark in the second of its three games in Group B.

Buczkowski – one of three Notre Dame players to earn All-America honors following the 2004 national championship season – gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead three minutes into the second half. A rightside corner-kick preceded a scramble in the goal area, with Buczkowski striking the ball from 10 yards out and sending her shot off the hand of an Iceland player and into the net.

Notre Dame rising senior goalkeeper Erika Bohn did not play in the game, with former Stanford All-American Nicole Barnhart logging the full 90 minutes in net. Barnhart is one of the four overage players (under-23) that the team was allowed to place on the 18-player roster.

Indianapolis-area player Lauren Cheney (Ben Davis High School) – the youngest member of the U.S. team – set up the game’s third goal in stoppage time, beating her defender into the right side of the box and cutting a cross back to Rapinoe for the 3-0 lead.

Notre Dame sophomore-to-be midfielder/forward Jannica Tjeder and her Finland teammates lost their opener in Group A vs. England (2-0) while host Sweden topped Norway (3-1). Germany won the other Group B game, 6-0 over Denmark.

The win gives the USA their fifth straight shutout victory in the Nordic Cup, after winning all four matches in the 2004 tournament by 3-0 scores (including the championship match against Sweden). The victory also gives the U.S. a great start to the eight-team tournament, in which only the group winners advance (to the title game).

The USA is aiming for its seventh straight title at the 15th Annual Nordic Cup, which takes places every summer in northern Europe.

O’Reilly opened the scoring in the earlygoing, running onto a thru-ball from former Rutgers midfielder Carli Lloyd that rolled to the left side of the penalty area. With the Iceland goalkeeper caught out of her net, O’Reilly chipped in her shot from 18 yards out for the 1-0 lead in the 6th minute of play.

The USA started the game in a 4-3-3 formation but switched to a 4-4-2 after Arizona State’s Manya Makoski came on for Lloyd in the 66th minute. Despite the big edge in shots and corner kicks, the Americans were caught offside 10 times trying to beat Iceland’s restraining line.

The match remained at 2-0 until stoppage time of the second half when the U.S. scored twice to put the game away. Rapinoe made it 3-0 in the 92nd minute, taking the pass from Cheney and ripping home a shot from eight yards out.

The final goal came a minute later when Kendall Fletcher sent a cross into the middle for the streaking O’Reilly, who slammed the deflected ball into the top right corner for the goal from close range.

Barnhart was rarely troubled while making two saves.

Upcoming opponent Denmark is the only country to beat the USA in the Nordic Cup since the 1998 championship game, when the USA lost to Norway. The 1-0 loss to Denmark came in 2002 group play but the USA got some help when host Finland defeated Denmark, allowing the USA to advance to the title game on goal differential.

United States 1 3 – 4
Iceland 0 0 – 0
USA 1. Heather O’Reilly (Carli Lloyd) 6th minute.
USA 2. Jen Buczkowski (-) 48.
USA 3. Megan Rapinoe (Lauren Cheney) 92+.
USA 4. Heather O’Reilly (Kendall Fletcher) 93+.

Lineups:
USA: 1-Nicole Barnhart; 11-Stephanie Lopez, 4-Kendall Fletcher, 19-Jill Oakes, 3-Mary Castelanelli (21-Rachel Buehler, 46); 22-Jen Buczkowski, 10-Carli Lloyd (2-Manya Makoski, 66), 8-Sarah Huffman (13-Megan Rapinoe, 63); 5-Lindsay Tarpley (15-Jessica Maxwell, 80), 9-Heather O’Reilly, 12-Amy Rodriguez (7-Lauren Cheney, 46). Subs not used: 1-Erika Bohn, 6-Lori Chalupny
ICELAND: 1-Gudbjorg Gunnarsdottir, 2-Malfridur Erna Sigurdardottir, 11-Embla Gretarsdottir, 8-Thora Stefansdottir, 3-Bjorg Thordardottir, 14-Bryndis Bjarnadottir (17-Hallvera Gisladottir, 65), 6-Holmfridur Magnusdottir (15-Nina Kristinsdottir, 54), 10-Thora Larusdottir, 9-Margaret Vidarsdottir, 7-Erla Arnarsdottir, 16-Greta Samuelsdottir. Subs not used: 4-Elsa Bjork Erlingsdottir, 5-Thorunn Jonsdottir, 12-Asa Adalsteinsdottir, 13-Fjola Fredriksdottir, 18-Gudrun Hilmarsdottir.

Shots: USA 27, ICE 5.
Shots on goal: USA 10, ICE 2.
Saves: USA 2, ICE 5.
Corner Kicks: USA 10, ICE 1.
Fouls: USA 4, ICE 13.
Offside: USA 10, ICE 3.

Officials: Referee – Pernilla Larsson (Sweden), Referee Asst. – Fredrik Karlsson (Sweden), Referee Asst. – Johan Owen (Sweden)

Friday’s Games: Finland vs. Sweden, England vs. Norway, Iceland vs. Germany, Denmark vs. USA

Sunday’s Games: Norway vs. Finland, Sweden vs. England, Iceland vs. Denmark, Germany vs. USA