US Team Handball Women's National Team

by: Jennifer Farrell

CORTLAND, NY-
Last weekend, the USA Team Handball Women’s National Team (WNT) celebrated a major victory in their rebirth as a new, competitive team: a qualification for Quebec League playoffs. Coming into the weekend of March 25, the WNT needed one win against 3rd place Laval (9-4-1) to secure their spot in the final four. Laval, a team who played in last year’s championship match, beat the WNT earlier in the season by just one point. However, this weekend the WNT showed that they were ready to take their game to the next level, sending Laval home 0-2 and earning themselves a spot in the Quebec League semi-finals.

There couldn’t have been a better atmosphere to savor the victory. The WNT fought for their wins in the Alumni Arena of their National Training Center at SUNY Cortland. The arena, which is set-up for hockey during the winter, is an incredible open space with bleachers for thousands of fans, a large electric scoreboard hanging from the ceiling, and most importantly, room for a full-size court.

To prepare for the weekend, the WNT rolled out the Teraflex floor from the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and played the matches in a truly international caliber set-up.

“It was fun to play on a court with only handball lines on it,” said Head Coach Christian Latulippe. “The Teraflex surface is great and the facility is perfect for handball games. I can definitely see ourselves playing some great international games here.”

The first match began at 11:30am on Saturday, and from the start, it was a very close game. Coming into half-time, Laval lead the WNT 10-9, and the WNT knew that they were going to have to play an even tougher 30 minutes to finish with a win.

Clearly, Laval had done their homework, and the team was ready to put up a strong fight in these games. Acutely aware of the threat posed by backcourt Kathy Darling, who had been scoring an average of 6-7 points a game, Laval decided to take her out of the game with a man-to-man defense. With one of their key scorers out, the WNT had to adapt their offensive strategy, something that had proven challenging in the past.

But this time the WNT was prepared; the remaining offensive players were able to successfully reorganize themselves to put the ball in consistently. The offense was lead by veteran center-back Edina Batar, who put in eight goals, and team captain Tomuke Ebuwei who put in five. With a strong defense and a well-adapted offense, the WNT came back to win the game 22-20.

“We made it,” exclaimed Latulippe. “It was a long road, with a lot of bumps, but we did it. I think to be in the semi-finals is a great achievement for our team. This was one of our objectives at the beginning of the year, and we realized it. The fun part about our trip to the playoffs is that we’ve beaten all of the teams at least once. Therefore, we can attack the next round believing we can do it.”

With one win in their pocket, and their playoff qualification secure, the WNT played the second game to put pressure on Laval for their final ranking. A second win in this game would put the WNT in contention for a 3rd place finish, depending on how Laval finished in their last two games against Champlain and Montreal (currently ranked 1st and 2nd place, respectively).

For the WNT, this game was also an opportunity to justify their place in the playoffs, and to send a message to the rest of the league. The WNT was determined to prove that their success was not a fluke, and that their qualification was the result of reproducible wins.

Unlike the first game, which heavily relied on solid defense, the second game was won mostly on offense. The WNT pulled ahead in the first 30 minutes, entering half-time 17-15. Laval stayed with their man-to-man defense on Kathy Darling, but this time the WNT was even more prepared, adapting right away to sink goals from other positions. The backcourt worked together to dominate the offense; Edina Batar put in 10 goals, and fellow backcourt Tomuke Ebuwei put in nine.

There were also several contributions from the wing, with Maren Hendershot putting in three, Jennie Choie and Melanie McCormick putting in two each, and Danielle Kendall putting in one. In the past, this has been a position in which the WNT struggled to finish with goals, but this time the wings were ready to do their job, contributing eight to the final score of 32-30.

There is no doubt that this season was a big turning point for the WNT, who finished 10-8 compared to last year’s 5-15-1.

“This is a great improvement,” said Latulippe. “It is definitely proof that we are on the right track. Good job, USA. Now it is time to make our way to the final.”

The WNT will play 2nd place Montreal Celtique or 1st place Champlain in the first round of the playoffs on April 9th in Laprairie, Quebec.