Great Win. So Gold and Silver for U20’s. Lets see that the momentum continue through LA and that we continue foster kids through NCAA.
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Great game to watch on YouTube. Congratulations to the women on their 16-15 victory. Offense looked great and we did not give much to the Spanish centers, but our perimeter defense seemed to struggle against their outside shooters. Carpenter is going to need to convert more of her touches into saves.
That was a rough game for the defenses in general with 31 goals and 27 total personal fouls. The Spanish shooting is very, very good. I also have watched Carpenter play a lot and think actually that (much like Ashleigh Johnson) she gets a hand on shots that the majority of female goalies don’t touch. Compare the goals the US women scored and how the Spanish goalie wasn’t close to touching them versus the placement of the shots Carpenter let in. Carpenter had some huge saves in the penalty shootouts as well as a swim up, call her own number goal in this tournament.
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I agree with you on Carpenter. She had a great tournament for the US. Without her, I do not think that we win, but I still think that she has the talent to knock down many of the shots that she is getting a hand on.
I think that Carpenter is the heir apparent, but Johnson, rightly or wrongly, has set a really high bar that all US goalies will be judged by.
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What a tournament with incredible close games for the most part. I think it helped that the US played in the B Group. All eyes were on that bracket as three of four semifinalists came from it and it accounted for four of the top five tourney placings. Congrats Team USA and go Lamo!
Lauren Steele was the second goalie. A Cutino finalist as a freshman. She played half the games and played great. IMO just as strong in the goal as Christine. Who also is amazing.
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Carpenter played the two most important games, the semifinal against Italy and the final game against Spain. It seems that the coaches thought that she was the better goalie of the two at the tournament.
Having watched the both of them play, they would have won with Steele in the goal as well. We have several top goalies coming up. It will be interesting to see who makes the final cut
How do you know? Both games were very close. Anyway, the coaches chose Carpenter as their #1 goalie. Obviously, both goalies are very talented. One might argue that Steele’s sophomore year at UCLA was a bit less impressive than her phenomenal freshman year. I hope she does very well in 2026.
I don’t know any more then you do, that US wouldn’t have won without Christine. Looking forward to another year of great competition
For completeness, here are US goalies’ stats from the u20 worlds.
Steele played the first group stage game against Hungary and went 5/15.
Carpenter played the second group stage game against Greece and went 12/22.
In the final group stage game against Italy, Carpenter went 6/9 and Steele went 2/5.
In the easy quarterfinals against Croatia Steele played most of the game and went 9/15. Carpenter went 3/3.
Carpenter then played both the semis and the finals games and went 12/21 and 8/23, respectively.
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Boy, you’re trying really hard. Not sure why.
urbnewyork,
It has been my experience that people often resort to personal attacks when they have no arguments left 
Anyway, to answer your question: I have no horse in this race and sincerely wish the best of luck to both goalies. Must be hard to believe, right?
Like I said I’m not sure what your trying to prove. No personal attack there
Fine.
All I have tried to say, in a slightly more subtle terms, is that Steele probably came to the U20 worlds as #1 goalie and definitely left as #2. Likewise, she started the 2005 collegiate season probably as an heir apparent to Ashleigh Johnson yet had a good but not spectacular run there.
My only substantial disagreement was when you wrote that “they would have won with Steele in the goal as well” and also “just as strong in the goal as Christine”. Both goalies are very talented, but I felt that Carpenter earned that #1 position, for the finals part of the tournament. The games were very close and any even small factor could have mattered.
Regardless, both goalies have a long road in front of them. If either of them turns out to be as good as Ashleigh, we will be golden I hope we can agree to stop this discussion here.
Guys, your bickering is getting annoying to the rest of us, both goalies are great goalies. The coaches alternated them thought out the early games, to get a gut feeling on who they felt more comfortable with, and occasionally, when you have a hot goalie, you ride that goalie until she falls off her horse. If she does not fall off, you keep riding her to victory.
That’s how it works with who plays more minutes or less minutes with the field players, and same goes for goalies. They were there to win the tournament and not to dish out equal playing minutes. Coaches probably went with their gut feeling in the cage, and it worked.
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