The United States Under-19 Women’s National Team split its first two matches during a week-long tour of Argentina earlier this week in Buenos Aries.

Nansemond River senior Stephanie Tarafas is one of two goalkeepers on the U.S. team.

Facing the under-19 Argentina team on Tuesday, the U.S. trailed 1-0 at halftime before rallying to win 2-1. The Americans scored the game-winning goal with six minutes remaining.

U.S. head coach Diane Madl said, “we started out very tentative early, fortunately we made adjustments at halftime.”

“I was proud of our poise in the second half and our ability to come back,” Madl said.

A blog by two U.S. players on USA Field Hockey’s official Web site included, “despite some nervous jitters during the initial minutes, the team gave a great effort and rallied back.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. lost 3-0 to Argentina.

“It seemed as if we were up against a much more experienced squad who took advantage of our mistakes out of the back,” Madl said.

“We really never got quite on track, but this has been a valuable learning experience for our players. I have seen both individual and team growth in the past two days,” Madl said.

The player blog isn’t all about the action on the field.

“Off the field, we’ve gotten to spend some time wandering Buenos Aires, frequenting candy stores, a fantastic ice cream shop down the block and even the occasional Subway,” the team bloggers said.

The U.S. had two more matches set with Argentinean youth club teams for Friday and Saturday to finish the tour.