Athens, Greece – Australia, the favorite to win the Olympic gold, overcame an incredible defensive performance by the USA women's water polo team by scoring two late-game goals, to win the Thetis Cup championship game. <\/p>\n
After a scoreless first half, Heather Moody (Green River, WY) broke the ice by scoring a powerplay goal to give the USA the lead at 6:18 of the third period. The Australians tied the game at 5:18 of the fourth period and then won the game when center-forward Simone Hankin scored a back-hand goal. <\/p>\n
"The game was a chess match," said US coach, Guy Baker (UCLA). "I think both
\nteams know each other so well that it seemed like we knew what they were
\ngoing to do and they knew what we were going to do before either did it.
\nEven though, on paper, the game may not look attractive, both teams played
\nwell, shots were difficult to come by and there were few turnovers."<\/p>\n
"I think the players felt two ways," said Baker. "I think they felt
\ndisappointment, but at the same time they were proud of their efforts and so
\nwas I."<\/p>\n
"We accomplished a number of things in this tournament. First, we put
\nourselves in a position to win. Second, we demonstrated our ability to play
\nagainst the number one team in the world in a tactical game where each
\npossession and each situation was critical to the outcome. Finally, as the
\nfinal game progressed, our conditioning was evident; we were able to build
\nour intensity even through the end."<\/p>\n
"This game and this tournament has given us confidence going into the
\nqualification tournament. The Australian game is a good checkpoint for us in
\nthat we know our abilities defensively and we are showing the initial signs
\nof being a counter-attack team." <\/p>\n
Team USA departs for Rome, Italy tomorrow for common training with the
\nItalians. The ir final game before the start of the World Olympic
\nQualification Tournament will be against Italy, in Rome's Olympic Swimming
\nStadium on Friday, April 14th. Following that game, the team will depart for
\nPalermo, Sicily where the Qualification tournament starts on April 22nd. At
\nstake will be the three remaining spots for the Six team field Sydney Olympic
\nGames.<\/p>\n
-more-
\nResults
\n 1 2 3 4 F
\nUSA 0 0 1 0 1
\nAUS 0 0 0 2 2<\/p>\n
Goals Scored
\nUSA: Heather Moody 1
\nAUS: Naomi Castle 1, Simone Hankin 1<\/p>\n
Goalie Saves
\nUSA: Bernie Orwig 6 Saves
\nAUS: Liz Weekes 7 Saves<\/p>\n
USA Powerplay 1 \/ 5
\nAUS Powerplay 0 \/ 2<\/p>\n
Today's Games Results:
\n7th Place Game ESP 6 vs GRE 5
\n5th Place Game RUS 5 vs ITA 4
\n3rd Place Game HUN 11 vs CAN 8
\n1st Place Game AUS 2 vs USA 1<\/p>\n
Thetis Cup Final Standings
\n1. Australia
\n2. USA
\n3. Hungary
\n4. Canada
\n5. Russia
\n6. Italy
\n7. Spain
\n8. Greece<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Athens, Greece – Australia, the favorite to win the Olympic gold, overcame an incredible defensive performance by the USA women's water polo team by scoring two late-game goals, to win<\/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":[707,105,3696,881,5690,5691,185,5689,552,1756,2122,141,584,5693,5692,5672,5688,516,5695,147,1089,5694,531,5696,61,62],"class_list":["post-1376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz","tag-athens","tag-australia","tag-bernie-orwig","tag-canada","tag-center-forward","tag-chess","tag-coach","tag-esp","tag-greece","tag-guy-baker","tag-heather-moody","tag-hungary","tag-italy","tag-liz-weekes","tag-naomi-castle","tag-olympic-qualification-tournament","tag-palermo","tag-rome","tag-romes-olympic-swimming-stadium","tag-russia","tag-sicily","tag-simone-hankin","tag-spain","tag-sydney-olympic-games","tag-ucla","tag-united-states"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n