LOS ALAMITOS, California, December 8. DAY two of the Eighth International Holiday Water Polo Cup was once again filled with intense competition. For the participating teams from Australia, Canada, Italy, Netherlands and Russia the day saw some highs and lows. For Team USA, however, their impressive defense secured them two more wins, beating the Netherlands 8-3 in the AM game and Russia 9-4 in the final game of the day.<\/p>\n
Game 4 of the Holiday Cup showcased two international heavy hitters with Russia defeating Australia 15-13. Game 5 was another close match-up with Canada pulling ahead in the fourth period to win the game against Italy 14-12. Team USA dominated the Netherlands in game 6 defeating the Dutch 8-3. <\/p>\n
The first game of the evening ended in a 9-9 tie for Australia and Canada. Game 8 was by far the most physical game of the day with 29 major fouls between Italy and the Netherlands. This high scoring match-up between Italy and the Netherlands ended in a 15-14 win for Italy.<\/p>\n
The last game of the night showcased Team USA vs. 2006 European Champion Russia. Team USA pulled out of a low scoring first quarter to leave Russia behind on the way to a 9-4 win. USA goalie Betsey Armstrong anchored Team USA's defense with 15 saves in the game. The entire USA defense was in full force tonight, shutting down Russia's two 6 on 5 chances.<\/p>\n
After a 1-1 first period the United States shut out the Russians while getting scores from Moriah van Norman and Lauren Wenger. USA's 3-1 half-time lead extended to a 6-2 advantage in the 3rd period. Van Norman then earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Brenda Villa finished for a 4-1 lead. Russia's Sofya Konukh scored a long shot from 10-meters out to bring the score up 4-2, but then Elsie Windes and Brittany Hayes each scored for Team USA. The United States held a 7-3 lead going into the fourth period until Natalie Golda scored her second goal of the game with 7 minutes remaining in regulation. Patty Cardenas then rounded out Team USA's scoring in the game with a counter attack strike to bring Team USA further ahead 9-3. Russia was determined to stay in the game and executed a final shot by Konukh to finish the night five points behind Team USA, 9-4.<\/p>\n
Game # 4 – RUSSIA 15, AUSTRALIA 13
\nBox Score
\nRUSSIA 4 – 2 – 5 – 4 — 15
\nAUSTRALIA 3 – 3 – 4 – 3 — 13 <\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nRUSSIA – Pantyulina 5, Smurova 3, Zubkova 2, Soboleva 5
\nAUSTRALIA – Beadsworth 4, Hadley 1, Fraser 1, B. Knox 4, Gynther 2, Santomorito 1 <\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nRUSSIA – Baranova 5
\nAUSTRALIA – E. Knox 11 <\/p>\n
Game # 5 – CANADA 14, ITALY 12
\nBox Score
\nCANADA 4 – 4 – 3 – 3 — 14
\nITALY 4 – 4 – 1 – 3 — 12 <\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nCANADA – Alogbo 2, Valin 1, Campbell 1, Braden 1, Robinson 2, Perreault 5, Radu 2
\nITALY – Miceli 2, Pavan 1, Bosurgi 2, Bosello 1, Biancardi 3, Musumeci 1, Emmolo 2 <\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nCANADA- Riddell 5
\nITALY – Brancati 7 <\/p>\n
Game # 6 – USA 8, NETHERLANDS 3
\nBox Score
\nUSA 3 – 1 – 1 – 3 — 8
\nNETHERLANDS 0 – 1 – 2 – 0 — 3 <\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nUSA – Wenger 3, Villa 2, Petri 1, Golda 1, Windes 1
\nNETHERLANDS – Smit 1, Klein 1, Guichelaar 1 <\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nUSA – Armstrong 14
\nNETHERLANDS – Ars 9 <\/p>\n
Game # 7 – AUSTRALIA 9, CANADA 9
\nBox Score
\nAUSTRALIA 3 – 2 – 2 – 2 — 9
\nCANADA 3 – 3 – 1 – 2 — 9 <\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nAUSTRALIA – Beadsworth 2, Cuffe 1, Gynther 3, Santomorito 1, Ralph 1, Hetzl 1
\nCANADA – Alogbo 1, Monton 1, Campbell 1, Csikos 2, Robinson 2, Perreault 1, Radu 1 <\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nAUSTRALIA – E. Knox 9
\nCANADA – Lamarre 8 <\/p>\n
Game # 8 – ITALY 15, NETHERLANDS 14
\nBox Score
\nITALY 3 – 3 – 3 – 6 — 15
\nNETHERLANDS 5 – 1 – 3 – 5 — 14 <\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nITALY – Di Mario 7, Bosurgi 3, Biancardi 3, Emmolo 2
\nNETHERLANDS – Guichelaar 5, Van Belkum 4, Klein 1, Van Den Ham 1, Cabout 1, Smit 1, Sijbring 1 <\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nITALY – Brancati 6
\nNETHERLANDS – Denooy 7 <\/p>\n
Game # 9 – USA , RUSSIA
\nBox Score
\nUSA 1- 2 – 4 – 2 — 9
\nRUSSIA 1 – 0 – 2 – 1 — 4 <\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nUSA – Golda 2, Hayes 2, Villa 1, Wenger 1, Cardenas 1, Windes 1, van Norman 1
\nRUSSIA – Konukh 2, Khlystova 1, Smurova 1 <\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nUSA – Armstrong 15
\nRUSSIA – Baranova 3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ALAMITOS, California, December 8. DAY two of the Eighth International Holiday Water Polo Cup was once again filled with intense competition. For the participating teams from Australia, Canada, Italy,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n