USA Remains Undefeated in FINA World League Semifinals

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., July 16. TEAM USA won its closest competition of the FINA World League Semifinals with a come-from-behind 7-6 triumph over Canada on Saturday to push its record to 4-0 in the event. The U.S. will face Australia today, who beat China 17-6 on Saturday. In the other game of the day, Brazil downed New Zealand 10-8.

"I think Canada made it difficult for us especially when we were down 3-0, but I thought we did a nice job when we bounced back to a two goal lead,” Team USA head coach Guy Baker said. “Today was a typical game for us; I think we can take a lot more out of this game. Coming in to this tournament, I wasn't sure how we were going to do because we have a number of new players on the team, but the first three days have been smooth and we've played well. This is good for us because it gives us some more experience leading up to the World Cup."

The Americans started out slow and made several offensive fouls, but still managed to pull through. Canada’s Christine Robinson netted one goal and Dominique Perrault (CAN) scored two extra man goals before Team USA made it onto the scoreboard, 3-0. Lauren Wenger became the first of seven U.S. scorers to help the U.S. win the aggressive match. Going into the final period, Perrault brought Canada within one goal of Team USA and Valeria Dionne tied the score at 3:10, 6-6. USA had a player advantage with 1:37 on the clock, but failed to convert. Canada followed with an extra man on its next possession, but Ericka Lorenz blocked the shot, then went on to win the game for the U.S. with a skip shot on the team’s final possession, 7-6.

"Canada is a very difficult team to play and to beat,” U.S. goalie Elizabeth Armstrong said. “Coming in to the game, I don't think we were over confident, we just tried to come out and play our game and control the game. I really didn't want to go to a shoot out."

July 16 games begin a special game between the USA Women’s Junior National Team and New Zealand at 10:30 a.m. New Zealand will then play China at noon followed by Canada and Brazil at 1:30 p.m. and USA and Australia at 3:00 p.m. For score sheets, photos and ticket information, visit www.usawaterpolo.org.

BOX SCORES:
USA – 1 2 3 1 – 7
CAN – 3 0 1 2 – 6

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
USA – H. Petri 1, E. Lorenz 1, B. Villa 1, L. Wenger 1, P. Cardenas 1, E. Figge 1, M. Van Norman 1
CAN – D. Perrault 3, C. Robinson 1, V. Dionne 2

GOALIE SAVES:
USA – E. Armstrong 6
CAN – R. Riddell 5

PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
USA – 2 of 9
CAN – 3 of 8

ATTENDANCE: 600
DELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
REFEREES: Waldow, Cabral

NZL – 3 1 3 1 – 8
BRA – 3 4 2 1 – 10

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
NZL – L. Smith 2, R. McGuiness 1, A. Sieprath 1, K. Mason 1, K. Hudson 3
BRA – A. Vasconcelos 2, F. Fernandes 2, M. Canetti 1, L. Carvalho 1, F. Palma 2, V. Costa 1, M. Teno 1

GOALIE SAVES:
NZL – C. Harache 7
BRA – T. Oliveira 9

PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
NZL – 2 of 10
BRA – 6 of 11, 2 of 2 (penalty)

ATTENDANCE: 250
DELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
REFEREES: Hardy, Mejia

AUS – 4 6 5 2 – 17
CHN – 1 0 2 3 – 6

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
AUS – G. Beadsworth 2, R. Rippon 2, S. Fraser 4, B. Knox 1, K. Gynther 4, J. Santoromito 1, J. Moran 2, M. Santoromito 1
CHN – P. Liu 1, Y. Sun 2, Y. Sun 1, A. Gao 1, H. Ma 1

GOALIE SAVES:
AUS – V. Brown 5
CHN – J. Yang 4

PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
AUS – 4 of 10, 1 of 1 (penalty)
CHN – 2 of 12, 1 of 1 (penalty)

ATTENDANCE: 250
DELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
REFEREES: Rotsart, Deslieres

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x