U.S. Power Soccer NT Books World Cup Semifinal Ticket With Wins vs. England and Denmark

Match No. 6 Recap: England 1, USA 3

After rotating his lineup through both of Wednesday’s matches, head coach Tracy Mayer elected to r to a lineup featuring the trio of Nathan Mayer, Jordan Dickey and Riley Johnson, while opting to insert Pete Winslow – whose set piece mastery has dazzled the QuayCentre courts with eight goal contributions -- for his second start of the tournament against third-place England.

The decision paid off as Winslow took his tournament assist lead to nine, setting up two first-half goals from Johnson before scoring from a direct free kick just before full-time.

The scoring got underway in the seventh minute, when England’s Jonathan Bolding conceded a collision foul on the right side of the box. Both Johnson and Winslow set up over the ball, before Johnson sped into the area and ever-so slightly, adjusted the angle of his chair toward goal to redirect Winslow’s powerful spin kick inside the right post.

Four minutes later, Jordan Dickey beat a defender up the left before threading a perfect ball through two England defenders for Winslow, but Bolding did well to track across the box to deny the U.S. attacker.

The USA found the second goal in the 16^th minute. The play started as a Winslow kick-in led to a corner kick on the right. He and Johnson again set up over the ball, before Johnson drove into the area, passing Jordan Dickey’s decoy run to the corner and then slamming home a one-time finish from the top of the box.

The U.S. had two more chances before the half. In the 18^th minute, a collision foul at mid-court led to Winslow driving another powerful free kick at goal, but it was turned out for a corner kick. On the take, Winslow sent a laser to Dickey at the top left corner of the penalty area, but his one-timer creeped just past the left post.

England gathered itself at the half and began to develop possession, disorganizing the USA with some good passing sequences. Spread a bit too thin, England final broke through in the 27^th minute as Marcus Harrison sped past substitute Zach Dickey to the right end line, before cutting back centrally and touching the ball around goalkeeper Nathan Mayer to make it 2-1. The goal was the first conceded by the U.S. since Monday’s match with France, and only the fourth in six games at the World Cup.

Johnson thought he had a hat trick and restored a two-goal lead, when his tenacious individual effort resulted in him backing the ball over the line, but the official called the goal back for a contact foul in the 31^st minute.

With the USA trying to close out the match late, England put together one more quality passing sequence as Chris Boulding passed out of the back for Edward Common, who quickly swung a cross field ball to Marcus Harrison in stride, but Harrison’s spin kick toward goal was well saved by Mayer coming far off his line to clear the danger in the 38^th minute.

After that attack, the USA kept the ball in the offensive end and Winslow iced the match from another dead-ball situation. After Lexi Heer won a kick-in on the right, Winslow quickly went over and performed a spin kick toward goal, catching England unorganized as the ball rolled through the box and over the goal line to cap an incredible performance in his second start of the tournament.

-U.S. Power soccer National team match report-

Match: U.S. Power Soccer National Team vs. England
Date: October 17, 2023 (October 18, 2023 locally)
Competition: 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup
Venue: Quaycentre; Sydney, Australia
Attendance: 562
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET (11 p.m. local time on October 18, 2023)

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
ENG                             0          1          1
USA                             2          1          3

USA – Riley Johnson (Pete Winslow)            7^th minute
USA – Riley Johnson (Pete Winslow)          16
ENG – Marcus Harrison                                  27
USA – Pete Winslow                                       40

Lineups:
USA: 2-Nathan Mayer, 3-Jordan Dickey, 9-Pete Winslow, 10-Riley Johnson (Capt.)
Substitutes: 5-Lexi Heer, 11-Zach Dickey
Did not play: 4-Natalie Russo-Dickey, 8-Peyton Sefick
Head coach: Tracy Mayer

ENG: 7-Christopher Gordon; 8-Jonathan Bolding (Capt.), 9-Marcus Harrison, 10-Daniel McLellan
Substitutes: 4-Edward Common, 5-David Lewis, 11-Tyler Reeve, 19-Bradley Bates
Head coach: John Moore

Stats Summary: ENG / USA
Shots: 5 / 6
Saves: 2 / 3
Corner Kicks: 0 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
ENG – Jonathan Bolding       37^th minute
USA – Pete Winslow              41

Officials: 
Referee: Nico Balin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mika Whalsten (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: David Wieber (AUS)
4th Official: Junichi Saito (JPN)

Match No. 7 Recap: Denmark 1, USA 2

The USA nearly got on the board just after a minute when Peyton Sefick’s corner from the right found Natalie Russo-Dickey at the left post, but her was denied by Denmark goalkeeper Albin Vinsen before Zach Dickey was whistled for a foul on the rebound.

The next 10 minutes saw a lot of back-and-forth open play, with Denmark doing well to stretch the USA out. Denmark would carry that momentum to open the scoring, catching the U.S. napping in the 13^th minute. A kick-in from Kasper Petersen in the Danish defensive half found Thorbjoern Krarup on the left. He poked the ball across court to Mark Soerensen who spin kicked a long-range effort inside the right post.

The U.S. bit back quickly via another set piece. Riley Johnson did well to get to the left end line and earn a corner kick. On the following take, Pete Winslow powered a spin kick to Lexi Heer who slotted home her fourth of the tournament at the back post to pull the score to 1-1 in the 15^th minute.

The USA would take the lead five minutes into the second half. The opportunity came again thanks to some clever play by Johnson on the left to win a kick-in. Johnson positioned himself at the top of the area for the restart, but upon Winslow’s spin kick, moved backward, opening a lane for Jordan Dickey to poke home the go-ahead goal at the right post in the 25^th minute.

With the lead secured, USA goalkeeper Nathan Mayer was called into action twice to preserve the advantage, turning away Mark Soerensen’s effort in the 35^th minute, before Soerensen’s powerful shot was turned out for a corner the following minute.

The USA got through the final nervy minutes, closing out the 2-1 comeback win and booking a ticket to the semifinals.

-U.S. Power soccer National team match report-

Match: U.S. Power Soccer National Team vs. Denmark
Date: October 18, 2023
Competition: 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup
Venue: Quaycentre; Sydney, Australia
Attendance: 472
Kickoff: 1 a.m. ET (4 p.m. local time)

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
DEN                             1          0          1
USA                             1          1          2

DEN - Mark Soerensen                                   13^th minute
USA – Lexi Heer (Pete Winslow)                   15
USA – Jordan Dickey (Pete Winslow)          25

Lineups:
USA: 2-Nathan Mayer; 4-Natalie Russo-Dickey, 8-Peyton Sefick, 11-Zach Dickey
Substitutes: 3-Jordan Dickey (Capt.), 5-Lexi Heer, 9-Pete Winslow, 10-Riley Johnson
Head coach: Tracy Mayer

DEN: 17-Albin Vinsen; 7-Mark Soerensen, 10-Kasper Petersen (Capt.), 11-Thorbjoern Krarup
Not Dressed: 1-Michael Jensen, 21-Tobias Clausen

Stats Summary: DEN / USA
Shots: 4 / 6
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 2 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
DEN - Thorbjoern Krarup (Caution)              39^th minute
USA – Zach Dickey (Caution)                         40+1

Officials: 
Referee: Mark Simon-Green (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nico Balin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mika Whalsten (FIN)
4th Official: Carolyn Bean (ENG)

NEXT UP: With the semifinals booked, the USA looks to secure a top-two finish in its final two round-robin matches on Wednesday night in the United States and Thursday in Australia. The USA first faces Uruguay at 8:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m.) AEDT on the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup YouTube Channel before facing Argentina at 10:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. AEDT) on the Official FIPFA YouTube Channel.

MATCHDAY FOUR ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Currently sitting second with a 6-1-0 record through seven matches at the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup, the USA, along with France clinched berths to the semifinals on Matchday Four.
• With Wednesday’s results, the USA moves to 34-3-2 all-time and 23-3-2 at the Powerchair Football World Cup.
• The USA improved to 4-1-0 all-time against England and 3-0-0 against Denmark.
• Registering a goal and two assists against England, and another two assists against Denmark, Pete Winslow now has 13 goal contributions – a tournament leading 11 assists, to go along with two goals.
• With his brace against England, Riley Johnson has four goals at the World Cup. Additionally, Johnson’s first goal against England was the 200^th in U.S. Power Soccer National Team history.
• Lexi Heer’s equalizer against Denmark was her fourth goal of the tournament.
• Jordan Dickey’s game-winner against Denmark was his fifth of the 2023 World Cup and first since bagging a brace on Oct. 15 vs. Northern Ireland.  
• After seeing her first action of the tournament on Wednesday, Natalie Russo-Dickey earned her first start in the day’s second match against Denmark.

ABOUT POWERCHAIR SOCCER

The U.S. Power Soccer National Team features male and female athletes with disabilities that include quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy, among others. The game is played in a gymnasium on a regulation basketball court with four players who attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch soccer ball in a skilled and challenging game similar to mainstream soccer.

Power Soccer is the first competitive team sport developed specifically for power wheelchair users and has been played internationally since 2006. Thie 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup marks the first world championship event for the U.S. Power Soccer National Team under U.S. Soccer supervision. The team officially became part of the Extended National Teams program in 2022 as part of U.S. Soccer's effort to build out programming for soccer in all of its forms.

For more information on the sport or to inquire about athlete eligibility, please contact U.S. Soccer's Extended National Teams Department via email at extendednt@ussoccer.org.