FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Nov. 15, 2025) – The U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team utilized a brace from Mia White and goals from veterans Sydney Andrews, Emily Spreeman and 16-year-old Tia LaBrecque to earn a comprehensive 5-0 win against Japan in the opening match of the Women’s Football Tournament at the 2025 Deaflympics. With the result, the USA sits atop the group on goal difference heading into Tuesday’s match against Australia (10 p.m. ET; JDFA YouTube).
Playing in front of a boisterous home crowd, the U.S. got out on the front foot early. After knocking the ball around, in the third minute, Erin Cembrale played a lovely ball into space for Holly Hunter on the left. Hunter got into the box before centering for White, who slid through to redirect a shot only to have Japan ‘keeper Kasumi Kunishima make a good reaction save down to her left.
That play was a precursor to the first U.S. goal five minutes later. After debutant goalkeeper Sierra Kaspar made a nice grab in the six, she outlet the ball for Hunter into space on the left. Unchallenged toward midfield, Hunter hit a ball over the top and into space that Kunishima tried to let roll into the box, but she misplayed it as White swarmed into the area and picked her pocket. Gaining possession, the striker took a touch to the right and slotted into the empty net to give the USA a 1-0 lead.
Down a goal, Japan began to push more into the attack, but the U.S. broke out in transition, with White causing havoc in the final third before earning a corner kick in the 21st minute. On the ensuing take, Paris Price’s cross from the left was well placed into the path of Andrews, who beat her mark to nod home her second career goal at the back post and make it 2-0.
The USA continued to dominate play in the second half and pushed for a third goal at the hour mark, as a lovely build up out of the back and up the left flank led to Cembrale rocketing a shot from the top of the 18 off the crossbar before it went out for a corner kick. On the corner, Kunishima came out to claim the ball, but it spilled into the box and was pushed back to Cembrale, who blasted a first-time effort from the top of the area. The goalkeeper made the initial stop, but the ball fell at the feet of White (pictured below) who slammed home the rebound for her second of the match, taking the score to 3-0.
A suffocating press in the midfield led to the fourth goal, as Cembrale intercepted a pass and turned it straight into attack, playing Spreeman into space up the left. The Deaf WNT's all-time leading scorer strolled into the box and cut onto her right, blasting an effort that Kunishima parried high, but went over her head and trickled into the net.
A fifth goal came from the youngest player on the field. A Japan free kick out of the back was headed forward by Andrews, into space for Spreeman. The veteran forward calmly played a ball for LaBrecque on the left, who went one-on-one with a defender into the box before the 16-year-old cut back to her right foot and unleashed a blast that careened off the underside of the crossbar and over the line to close the scoring at 5-0 in the 83rd minute.
With a plus-five goal differential, the USA sits atop the group after Matchday 1 following Great Britain’s 1-0 win against Australia. The Deaf WNT are back in action against Australia on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 10 p.m. ET (JDFA YouTube).
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Match: U.S. Women’s Deaf National Team vs. Ukraine
Date: November 15, 2025
Competition: Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics
Venue: J-Village, Fukushima, Japan
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET (Nov. 14) / 12 p.m. local (on Nov. 15)
Weather: 57 degrees, sunny
Attendance: 1,627
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F |
| USA | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| JPN | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| USA – Mia White | 8th minute |
| USA – Sydney Andrews (Paris Price) | 21 |
| USA – Mia White | 62 |
| USA – Emily Spreeman (Erin Cembrale) | 78 |
| USA – Tia LaBrecque (Emily Spreeman) | 83 |
Lineups:
USA: 12-Sierra Kaspar; 5-Gracie Fitzgerald, 11-Sydney Andrews, 3-Paige Beaudry (Capt.); 7-Sabina Shysh (16-Emma Neff, 46), 14-Paris Price (2-Kate Ward, 57), 4-Holly Hunter; 15-Tia LaBrecque (22-Payton DeGraw 84), 8-Erin Cembrale; 10-Emily Spreeman, 17-Mia White (23-Sophie Post, 67)
Substitutes not used: 1-Meghan Maiwald, 6-Melia Lenert, 9-Ani Khachadourian, 13-Casey King, 18-Faith Wylie, 19-Chelsey Tumey, 20-Josephine Blazic, 21-Taegan Ferrin
Head coach: Amy Griffin
JPN: 12-Kasumi Kunishima, 2-Ishioka Hirona, 3-Ayaka Kujuro, 4-Kanon Masuda, 5-Natsumi Miyata, 6-Natsumi Abe, 7-Aya Komori, 8-Airi Sakai, 10-Oka Takagi, 11-Ai Iwabuchi (17-Nana Kawabata, 89), 14-Kana Shoji
Substitutes not used: 1-Miwa Ito, 9-Nanami Sugimoto, 13-Rioka Sakakibara, 15-Miku Miyagi, 16-Haruka Takahashi, 18-Haru Nishida
Head coach: Yoshiki Yamamoto
Stats Summary: USA / JPN
Shots: 15 / 5
Shots on Goal: 11 / 2
Saves: 2 / 6
Corner Kicks: 5 / 0
Fouls: 7 / 3
Offside: 4 / 0
| Misconduct Summary | |
| USA – Paris Price (caution) | 15th minute |
Officials:
Referee: Jason Taylor
Assistant Referee 1: Kazuya Sawabe
Assistant Referee 2: Satoshi Nishimura
Fourth Official: Kanto Watanabe