USA Women’s Water Polo Continues to Roll at FINA World League Semifinal

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., July 13. TEAM USA rolled through another opponent with a 15-6 conquest of Brazil in the United States' second match of the FINA World League Semifinal in Los Alamitos, Calif., on Thursday. Overall, 10 USA field players tallied points on the scoreboard.

"I thought they pressed us harder than in last night’s game,” Team USA head coach Guy Baker said. “I think we did a little bit better than last night. We let down in the fourth quarter, but overall we did better. The goal for us is to play better each game before the tournament is over. I did like the way we responded after they had three straight goals, teams are going to score on us so we just have to stop them from getting momentum. So far no team has gotten any momentum off of us and that's nice to see."

Team USA led the first quarter with four goals to Brazil’s one. During Brazil’s Melina Teno ejection late in the quarter, Alison Gregorka turned for the pass from the top and took the shot from the post to put the U.S. up by three. Brazil had a difficult time setting up their center against the U.S. team’s press defense and had to take shots from well outside the five-meter line.

The distance kept the team’s scoring to one goal per quarter until the fourth quarter when Flavia Fernandes and Amanda de Oliveira each netted a corner shot past an unsuspecting Emily Feher in goal. Even so, the 2005 World Championship goalkeeper tacked up 13 saves. During the last three minutes of play, USA’s Patty Cardenas scored twice and Erika Figge and Gregorka each netted one goal.

"You always want to come out strong and gain your personality and gain some rhythm for each game," USA player Kameryn Craig said. "Right now our focus is getting in the flow of playing teams again and getting better each time that we play."

Meanwhile, Canada defeated China 13-6, while Australia downed New Zealand 12-7.

On tap for Friday, Canada will face Australia at 5:45 p.m. (PDT), Brazil and China will follow at 7:15 p.m., and Team USA and New Zealand are set to play at 8:45 p.m. The Men’s U.S. team begins its FINA World League Preliminary Round on July 14 in Victoria, Canada.

BOX SCORES:
USA – 4 3 3 5 – 15
BRA – 1 1 1 3 – 6

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
USA – H. Petri 1, E. Lorenz 1, B. Villa 2, B. Hayes 2, N. Golda 2, P. Cardenas 1, E. Figge 1, A. Gregorka 2, M. Van Norman 2, J. Steffens 1
BRA – F. Fernandes 1, A. de Oliveira 2, V. Costa 1, M. Teno 1, A. Henriques 1

GOAL SAVES:
USA – E. Feher 10
BRA – T. Oliveira 6

PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
USA – 3 of 7
BRA – 1 of 6

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

CAN – 2 2 4 5 – 13
CHN – 0 1 3 2 – 6

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
CAN – K. Alogbo 3, S. Gardiner 1, J. Bekhazi 1, R. Tomiuk 1, D. Perreault 2, C. Robinson 3, V. Dionne 1, M. Radu 1
CHN – F. Teng 1, Y. Sun 4, H. Ma 1

GOAL SAVES:
CAN – R. Riddell 10
CHN – J. Yang 8

PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
CAN – 2 of 6, 0 of 2 (penalty)
CHN – 3 of 9

ATTENDANCE: 150
DELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
REFEREES: Waldow, Mejia

AUS – 1 7 1 3 – 12
NZL – 0 3 1 3 – 7

INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
AUS – G. Beadsworth 1, S. Smith 2, R. Rippon 1, S. Fraser 2, F. Hammond 1, K. Gynther 4, M. Santoromito 1
NZL – E. Cox 3, A. Sieprath 2, K. Mason 1, K. Hudson 1

GOAL SAVES:
AUS – V. Brown 10
NZL – C. Harache 11

PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
AUS – 3 of 9
NZL – 2 of 7

ATTENDANCE: 100
DELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
REFEREES: Cabral, Rotsart

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