USA Women’s Water Polo Falls To Australia 8-7; USA Men Tie Australia 6-6

MELBOURNE, Australia, January 11. THE USA Women's National Team suffered their first loss at the Pan Pacs with an 8-7 defeat at the hands of Australia while the USA Men remained unbeaten ending in a 6-6 draw with Australia. The USA women overcame a 4-0 deficit early on to tie the match in the second period before falling behind in the second half. The USA Men and Australia were even throughout with an early fourth quarter goal from the Aussies holding up to preserve the tie. Both USA teams will meet the Barbarians tomorrow, the Australian "B" squad.

In the loss to Australia the USA Women were down 4-0 at the end of the first period before starting to chip away in the second. They scored all three goals in the second period to make it 4-3 by intermission. In the second half the United States tied the match with 6:38 to go in the period on a score from Heather Petri (Orinda, CA/California/NYAC) to make it 4-4. The two teams would trade goals before Australia went up 6-5 to close out the third.

The fourth quarter saw the Aussies get up 7-5 when Team USA looked to rally again with a goal from Melissa Seidemann, (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/Stanford) her second on the day, to make it 7-6 Australia with five minutes to play. Australia immediately answered with a score but undaunted the United States again drew to within a score at 8-7 with 1:40 left on a Tanya Gandy (San Diego, CA/UCLA/NYAC) tally. The United States drew an exclusion with just seven seconds left in the match but could not convert a score and lost 8-7.

Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, MI/Michigan/NYAC) went all four quarters in the cage making five saves. Team USA went 2/8 on power plays while Australia was 3/8. "The first period was a good wake up call for us. I was pleased with the performance after that," said USA Head Coach Adam Krikorian.

In the men's match against Australia it was Team USA leading first, going up 1-0 early on with a score from Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/NYAC). The teams traded scores in the first period with Australia surging ahead 3-2 at the end of the quarter. The Aussies went up 4-2 in the second quarter but then Team USA turned to Brian Alexander (Santa Ana, CA/UCSB/Olympic Club) who scored twice to even the game at 4-4 going to halftime.

The third quarter was again back and forth, but this time the United States scored last on an Azevedo tally to take a 6-5 lead going to the fourth quarter. Australia found the cage less than thirty seconds into the final period to the tie the match at 6-6 and that score would hold up the rest of the way. Team USA failed to capitalize on three different power plays down the stretch ending 3/12 on player advantages. Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/Pepperdine/NYAC) went the whole way in net stopping 12 shots.

"We played well defensively; well enough to give us a chance to win," said Terry Schroeder, USA Head Coach. "Going 3 for 12 on man up is not going to win many games."

Scoring – Women – Scoresheet
USA 7 (0, 3, 2, 1) M. Seidemann 2, K. Craig 1, H. Petri 1, T. Gandy 1, M. Steffens 1
AUS 8 (4, 0, 2, 2)
Saves – USA – B. Armstrong 5
6×5 – USA – 2/8 – AUS 3-8

Scoring – Men – Scoresheet
USA 6 (2, 2, 2, 0) T. Azevedo 2, B. Alexander 2, S. Buckner 1, T. Hutten 1
AUS 6 (3, 1, 1, 1)

Saves – USA – M. Moses 12
6×5 – USA – 3/12

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.

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