{"id":533067,"date":"2023-07-24T01:09:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T08:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=533067"},"modified":"2023-07-24T01:09:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T08:09:59","slug":"worlds-water-polo-dogged-defense-helps-italy-stun-the-u-s-8-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/worlds-water-polo-dogged-defense-helps-italy-stun-the-u-s-8-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Worlds Water Polo: Dogged Defense Helps Italy Stun the U.S., 8-7"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Worlds Water Polo: Dogged Defense Helps Italy Stun the U.S., 8-7<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thunder boomed outside the Marine Messe Hall B in Fukuoka, Japan, on Monday afternoon. Inside, the pool hosted a lightning-strike rarity of its own.<\/p>\n<p>Italy frustrated the American offense throughout the quarterfinal of the World Aquatics Championships, securing an 8-7 win to deny the Americans a chance at a fifth consecutive World title.<\/p>\n<p>The seven-time champion Americans haven\u2019t dropped a knockout game at Worlds since 2013, falling to Spain in the quarterfinals in Barcelona. They rallied to fifth place at that tournament.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/category\/water-polo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Water Polo News<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/total-waterpolo.com\/world-aquatics-championships-fukuoka-2023-women\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Worlds Water Polo Hub<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Americans had won 26 straight World Championships matches, dating back to 2015 \u2026 and a 10-9 group-stage loss to Italy. Among the victories was a 14-6 handling of Italy in the semifinals last year in Budapest.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_533069\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-533069\" data-attachment-id=\"533069\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/worlds-water-polo-dogged-defense-helps-italy-stun-the-u-s-8-7\/20th-world-aquatics-championships-fukuoka-2023-63\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2400,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Andrea Staccioli \\\/ Deepbluemedia \\\/ Insidefoto&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 9&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Caterina Banchelli of Italy during the women match between team United States of America (white caps) and team Italy (blue caps) at 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall B in Fukuoka (Japan), July 24th, 2023.&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1690179994&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Andrea Staccioli \\\/ Deepbluemedia \\\/ Insidefoto&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;5000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;20th World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20th World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 2023\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;7-24-23&lt;br \/&gt;\nCaterina Banchelli of Italy during the women match between team United States of America (white caps) and team Italy (blue caps) at 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall B in Fukuoka (Japan), July 24th, 2023. Sport, Water Polo, FINA, Aquatics, World Championships, World Aquatics, Fukuoka, 2023, Fukuoka 2023, Caterina Banchelli of Italy, women match between team United States of America (white caps) and team Italy (blue caps)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Italian goalie Caterina Banchelli denies a shot from Maggie Steffens during the World Championships quarterfinals on Monday; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-533069\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844.jpg\" alt=\"Caterina Banchelli of Italy during the women match between team United States of America (white caps) and team Italy (blue caps) at 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall B in Fukuoka (Japan), July 24th, 2023.\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-280x187.jpg 280w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-1350x900.jpg 1350w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/20230724_ASta_ASZ3844-533x355.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-533069\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Italian goalie Caterina Banchelli denies a shot from Maggie Steffens during the World Championships quarterfinals on Monday; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cDefensively to hold a team like that to eight goals is great,\u201d said captain <strong>Maggie Steffens,<\/strong> who scored four times. \u201cDefensively, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s much more that we could\u2019ve done. But offensively, just executing our opportunities, and that\u2019s what Italy did and that\u2019s why they got the win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sofia Giustini<\/strong> led Italy with three goals on three shots. <strong>Roberta Bianconi<\/strong> added two goals, albeit on 2-for-10 shooting. But it was all about Italy\u2019s defense, led by nine saves in goal from <strong>Caterina Banchelli.<\/strong> That included a 1-v-1 denial on Steffens with 1:47 left and a bid to get within one on a superb setup that still wasn\u2019t able to beat the Italian netminder.<\/p>\n<p>Italy\u2019s defense was best when things were toughest. They committed 20 exclusion fouls to the Americans\u2019 seven. Yet the Americans were just 2-for-14 on power-play shots, a kneecapping 14 percent. (Italy was 4-for-5 on the power play, by comparison.) Italy also made eight steals. Only Steffens, with four goals, and <strong>Maddie Musselman<\/strong> with a pair scored for the U.S. before the game\u2019s final minute.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTough game for us, to have so many opportunities,\u201d Steffens said. \u201cIt seemed like we were having a bar party out there, and they were doing a great job forcing bad shots from us, forcing us to try to beat the block. They were playing with a ton of energy defensively, they got a lot of blocks, their goalie got a lot of blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. defense was great, too. It held Italy to just 3-for-25 on action shots, a woeful completion rate of 12 percent. <strong>Ashleigh Johnson<\/strong> made nine saves in goal.<\/p>\n<p>The game was tied at 6 after three quarters, but America\u2019s missed opportunities piled up quicker than Italy\u2019s mountain of exclusions. <strong>Domitilla Picozzi<\/strong> blistered a long-range shot to give Italy a 7-6 lead. Banchelli stopped <strong>Ryann Neushul<\/strong> and Steffens on the same possession, the last an amazing save where she scrambled across the goalmouth to get a ball that was halfway across the line, so close that video review was called in to confirm it.<\/p>\n<p>Banchelli stopped Musselman, who was just 2-for-9 shooting, on the next possession, just before <strong>Chiara Tabani<\/strong> lobbed Johnson to make it 8-6 with 2:57 left.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. still had time and drew Tabani\u2019s third exclusion, then three straight on replacement <strong>Dafne Bettini,<\/strong> one of three players to foul out. But Musselman couldn\u2019t get a shot to go, then Steffens had her effort from 3-meters saved.<\/p>\n<p>A turnover with 60 seconds left and <strong>Claudia Marletta\u2019s<\/strong> third exclusion allowed the U.S. to call a timeout and draw up a play for <strong>Jordan Raney<\/strong> to sneak one short-side past Banchelli with 21 seconds left. But it would prove too little, too late for the Americans, who never got the ball back.<\/p>\n<p>Now comes something that the seven-time World Champ and winner of the last three Olympics Games doesn\u2019t have much practice with: Bouncing back after a loss. With a youthful group, there are lessons to learn from the setback, however seldom they\u2019ve had a chance to do that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe World Championships aren\u2019t over,\u201d Steffens said. \u201cWe still have two games left to get better. We have a young group, and these opportunities only come every so often, so for us, it\u2019s about responding, being resilient, let\u2019s just get better. We can learn from this game. We\u2019re not done. There\u2019s a long journey ahead of us, not just in this Worlds but in this Olympic quad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Worlds Water Polo: Dogged Defense Helps Italy Stun the U.S., 8-7 Thunder boomed outside the Marine Messe Hall B in Fukuoka, Japan, on Monday afternoon. Inside, the pool hosted a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8367,"featured_media":533068,"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":[3,12],"tags":[70622,39795,132845,132846,132847,584,37598,39337,120169,120136,846,51762],"class_list":["post-533067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-2023-world-aquatics-championships","tag-ashleigh-johnson","tag-caterina-banchelli","tag-chiara-tabani","tag-domitilla-picozzi","tag-italy","tag-maddie-musselman","tag-maggie-steffens","tag-roberta-bianconi","tag-sofia-giustini","tag-u-s","tag-womens-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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