{"id":483533,"date":"2021-07-28T02:51:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T09:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=483533"},"modified":"2021-07-28T02:51:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T09:51:50","slug":"hungary-snaps-u-s-womens-water-polos-12-game-olympic-winning-streak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/hungary-snaps-u-s-womens-water-polos-12-game-olympic-winning-streak\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungary Snaps U.S. Women\u2019s Water Polo\u2019s 12-Game Olympic Winning Streak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hungary Snaps U.S. Women\u2019s Water Polo’s 12-Game Olympic Winning Streak<\/strong><\/p>\n

It had been 13 years and 12 Olympic games since the U.S. women\u2019s water polo team last tasted defeat. Hungary ended that streak on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

A goal by Rebecca Parkes<\/strong> with 45 seconds to play tilted a seesaw battle in favor of Hungary, giving it a 10-9 win over the United States at the Tatsumi Aquatic Centre.<\/p>\n

The United States went up 8-6 with 2:45 left in the third quarter, the biggest lead either team had in a nip-and-tuck affair. But Parkes scored at 6:26 of the fourth, then Vanda Valyi<\/strong> tied the game less than a minute later. Melissa Seidemann<\/strong> nudged the U.S. back ahead with 2:28 remaining, but Rita Kesztheyli<\/strong> re-knotted the game with an extra-player goal at 1:53, setting up Parkes\u2019 heroics.<\/p>\n

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Maddie Musselman; Photo Courtesy: James Lang\/USA TODAY Sports<\/p><\/div>\n

“I thought we played hard, we played so tough,\u201d U.S. coach Adam Krikorian<\/strong> said. \u201cIt was similar to the China game when we had a really difficult time just putting the ball in the back of the net. We wish we would have finished off the game, but we’ll learn from this and move on. The game was super physical, the most physical game that we played in the last 13 or 17 games that we’ve had leading up to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loss drops the U.S. women’s water polo to 2-1 in pool play. It\u2019s the first loss for the two-time defending champion since the gold-medal game in Beijing in 2008. The U.S. had not lost in 2021 and had suffered just four setbacks since the Rio Olympics.<\/p>\n

“We’re going in to every game taking our competitors seriously,\u201d Seidemann said. \u201cWe haven’t lost a lot but the way the media portrays that<\/a> discredits our opponents as everyone\u2019s so good. It’s not a surprise to us. We knew it was going to be a battle and we look forward to the next time we get to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n