USA Women Down Russia 12-9 To Complete Prelim Play Undefeated At FINA Water Polo World League Super Final

LA JOLLA, California, July 1. IT was three in a row for the USA Women's Senior National Team after they defeated Russia 12-9 on Wednesday evening at the Coggan Complex in La Jolla. Behind three goals from Brenda Villa (Commerce, CA/Commerce) and six stops from Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, MI/NYAC) the United States used a strong second half to subdue the Russians en route to completing the preliminary play of the FINA World League Prelim with a perfect record.

Russia started first with the opening tally of the game but that was answered by Tanya Gandy (San Diego, CA/SD Shores) and it was a 1-1 game. A slow first quarter saw Russia leading 2-1 after the initial period but in the second more goals would arrive. Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford), Annika Dries (Laguna Beach, CA/SET) and Villa would tally three straight goals for the USA to build a 4-2 lead. Russia eventually tied the game at 4-4 but the United States answered with two of the next three goals to go up 6-5 at halftime. Dries drew a five meter penalty scored by Kelly Rulon (Point Loma, CA/NYAC), and then Dries unleashed a powerful move to score out of a two meters to deliver the second tally.

The Russians scored the first goal of the second half but yet again Team USA had an answer with three straight goals from Rulon, Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, CA/NYAC) and Villa which led to a 9-6 lead. That was the score headed into the fourth quarter where the United States kept the pressure up en route to the victory. Three more goals were provided by Team USA in the fourth by Villa, Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Diablo) and Gandy to close out the match at 12-9.

Team USA is back in action tomorrow night against Canada in quarterfinal play at 7pm. Tickets are available at the door or you can watch live at waterpolo.teamusa.org/live.
USA 12 (1, 5, 3, 3) B. Villa 3, T. Gandy 2, K. Rulon 2, A. Dries 2, L. Wenger 1, M. Steffens 1, M. Seidemann1
RUS 9 (2, 3, 1, 3) E. Prokofyeva 2, A. Timofeeva 1, N. Ryzhova-Alenicheva 1, E. Soboleva 1, O. Karpovich 1, O. Belyaeva 1, Y. Gaufler 1, E. Pustyinnikova 1

Saves
USA – Armstrong 6
RUS – Kovtunovskaya 2

6×5 – USA – 7-11 – RUS 2-7
Penalties – USA 2-2

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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