TAC Day 5 - Freedom Top Group with GB Win

Being last is sometimes a good thing.  For the USA Freedom, they had the last pool game of the women’s division against Great Britain.  

Coming in, they would know exactly what they would need to accomplish in order to advance to the semi-finals.  And after Colombia’s opening day upset over France, there was the chance that there would be tie-breaker combinations at play.

When it came time for ball up, however, Colombia’s 140-point defeat at the hands of Ireland meant that unless Great Britain scored every 1.56 seconds or so, the Freedom were safely into the final four of the 2024 AFL TransAtlantic Cup.

Thus, they didn’t need to win to move on.  But this team didn’t come to Toronto to do anything other than win.  And aside from a bit of a bump in the fourth quarter, they were in control of the match for a 34-13 victory over the GB Swans.

Steady rain the entire day would seemingly have an effect on skills, which is why in the opening 17 ½ minutes, only one goal was scored. April Munn’s free kick was the result of great work by the forward line, with Amanda Boe, Ally Dykes, and Jess Blecher putting in the hard yards.  6-0 USA at quarter-time.

The big story in the game was the Freedom debut of Dani Marshall.  The Paul Roos and Geoff Can Medal winner, who played four seasons in AFLW and won a VFLW premiership with Essendon, had waited six years for this moment and arrived yesterday in Canada to pull on the national jumper for the first time.

Marshall’s presence was strong across the half-back line, with Carol Sequiera and Rita Hill helping to provide support and keep the Swans off the scoreboard.  Kaiya Sygulla again put in an omnipresent rover performance to notch a goal for the third game in a row, and Blecher brought about a third towards the shadows of halftime.  The battle between Lidnsay Bec and Britain’s Athene McInerney was fun to watch as the match went on, and helped spring the Killer B’s half-forward line (with Boe) as the Freedom went into the main break up 18-0.

Precipitation continued into the third term, and the gritty grind-it-out style of play continued, but not before Nicole Feery added another tally, as did Boe.  The latter’s goal was probably the most impressive of the team-leading six she’s kicked so far. Jeri Allen also emerged as a target forward, using her strength to take a couple of impressive marks. The pressure mounted as the Americans went into the final term on the sunny side of a 34-0 scoreline.

For eight straight quarters, the USA was the dominant team over their opponents.  All of that ended momentarily when the Swans hit back for two goals to start off the quarter, and a little bit of doubt perhaps would’ve started creeping in about the result. But after that interlude, the danger cleared.  Kelly Kaskiw had some big defensive clearances, and though Aileen Yoon wasn’t rewarded with a goal, her hustle to keep the ball pinned inside 50 was valuable.  The Swans scored all thirteen points in the final stanza, the Freedom were too good.

Though the letdown at the end will be something to work on, the Americans finish Group A on top with a 2-1 record and a relatively comfortable percentage advantage.

Marshall’s confident possessions were key in the victory,and she was named TASMANIAN Player of the game.

“[I feel] Tired!” she said, “but really good, really excited to be here with this group of girls.  I was watching it when I was in Colorado and just very excited to play with them.

“I’ve been really blessed to have the experiences that I’ve had in Australia and got stuck there over COVID so I had to stay.  But I’ve learned a lot and my goal coming here was to impart some of what I’ve learned to this program and these women who are so eager to learn.”

With the preliminaries done and dusted, the Freedom go into a semifinal against Canada.  The Northern Lights have won eight of the ten battles, with the U.S. last winning in 2012.  It’s a rematch of the 2017 International Cup semifinal, won by the Canadians 44-8 in Melbourne.

Marshall is ready for her first rivalry matchup.

“Canada’s a tough one because they come to Nationals, we see them a lot.  That’s our number one rival.  I finally get to pull [the USA jumper] on, I finally get to play Canada, who we know the best out of anyone, so really excited for that matchup.”

USA Goals: Munn, Bec, Blecher, Boe, Feery