LONG BEACH, June 27.<\/p>\n
Game Sixteen: ITALY vrs. USA
\nITALY, 9 – USA, 10
\n( 3:3, 1:2, 1:3, 4-2 )<\/p>\n
GAME NOTES:
\nUSA saw it\u00b9s three-goal lead trimmed but held on to beat Italy 10-9<\/p>\n
There was little joy for the world champion USA in the early stages with
\nMartina Miceli lobbing Jacqueline Frank for the opening goal and Manuela
\nZanchi accepting a cross pass on deep right-hand catch to score by 5:42.
\nThen the Brenda Villa factor kicked in as she scored on extra to lift the
\nhuge crowd. They were clearly disappointed with the penalty awarded to
\nItaly, which Tania Di Mario converted at 3:02 for 3-1. Exit the funereal
\natmosphere and enter Villa. She lobbed Italian veteran goalkeeper Francesca
\nConti on extra at 2:15. Amber Stachowski was ejected but Italian could not
\nconvert. Stachowski then did her country proud at the other end, scoring
\nfrom deep right-hand catch. And 3-3. Italy had a timeout but failed to shoot
\nwithin the 14 seconds left on the clock.<\/p>\n
Natalie Golda was then the toast of the nation, lobbing Conti off left-hand
\ncatch on the first attack of the third period. Two minutes later, Ericka
\nLorenz rose to her hips and targeted the bottom corner for 5-3. The crowd
\nnearly shook the temporary stands off their foundations! For six long
\nminutes no goal came and then the USA defence lapsed, letting Maddalena
\nMusumeci sneak in a cross-cage shot with just 11 seconds left, trailing the
\nUSA 5-4.<\/p>\n
Melania Grego levelled early in the fourth period on extra but it wasn\u00b9t
\nlong before the host team pulled away, firstly through Robin Beauregard on
\nextra from deep right-hand catch and then by captain Heather Moody on
\ncounter-attack at 5:29. Stachowski had the ball down the right and she
\nflipped it over to Moody who caught in midair and waited for Conti to drop
\nbefore pushing the ball into the far side of the goal. Even then Conti got a
\nhand to it. It was still 7-5 heading into the final three minutes. The USA
\ntook a timeout and Stachowski scored off the left post on extra at 1:27 to
\ngo into the final period with a three-goal lead.<\/p>\n
Italy opened the last with a goal to Di Mario on extra. But it was not long
\nbefore Villa scored her hat-trick with a solid shot on extra in her favoured
\ndeep right-hand-catch position. It was not to be denied and Grego gained a
\nsecond on extra for 9-7. Italy got into all sorts of trouble with twice
\nhaving a double exclusion. The first USA shot was blocked but it opened up
\nfor Golda at 4:10 to score and again go three up at 10-7. Italy used a
\ntimeout soon after and Grego sent in her third power-play goal for 10-8. USA
\nwent for a minute break at 2:17 and coach Baker would have been advising
\ncaution and going for the killer tactic. The shot missed and both sides had
\nchances. Then Di Mario scored on extra at 1:40 to close to 10-9. On the USA
\nattack, the USA looked hesitant and Estes shot into the wood in the top
\ncorner. Italy advanced and Giusy Malato shot brilliantly on the turn from
\ntwo metres, beat Frank in goal but hit the bottom of the upright. USA
\nretained the ball to advance to the final.<\/p>\n
FLASH QUOTES:
\nUSA (10)
\nCOACH: GUY BAKER
\nON ITALY\u2019S LAST SHOT ON GOAL: \u201cWe played a really poor fourth quarter. We had a chance to go up by three and we didn\u2019t, so if that last goal had gone in, we\u2019d have gotten what we deserved.\u201d
\nON HUNGARY: \u201cHungary will present a whole new set of challenges. They are strong swimmers and all of them come out of the womb shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n
PLAYER # 6: NATALIE GOLDA
\nMINDSET GOING INTO GAME: \u201cWe wanted to control the game and set the tempo. Also, try to focus on defense.\u201d
\nTOUGH GAME: \u201cIt was really tough. It was nice to have the crowd on our side.
\nRIVALRY: \u201cYes, there is definitely a rivalry. It\u2019s fun to play Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n
PLAYER # 13: THALIA MUNRO
\nMINDSET GOING INTO GAME: \u201cI wanted to make sure that we went all out for all four quarters.\u201d
\nROUGH GAME: \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t call it unusual. Certain teams are a lot more physical. As long as we play our game then we are good.\u201d
\nPERFORMANCE: \u201cI thought I played well. Everyone did their part. We played outstanding as a team.\u201d
\nDIFFERENCE IN THEIR PLAY BETWEEN THIS GAME AND GAME VS RUSSIA: \u201cWe came out with more intensity. It\u2019s important to never let down. After Russia\u2019s game we set standards for the next games.\u201d<\/p>\n
ITALY (9)
\nCOACH PIERLUIGI FORMICONI<\/p>\n
GAME: \u201cIt was good for the USA to win, with this being their home crowd.\u201d I\u2019m not happy, it\u2019s normal since we lost.\u201d \u201cI hope for a different result in Athens.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re playing better, and all the teams here are strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
COMPOSITION OF TEAM AND SCORERS:<\/p>\n
ITALY: 9
\nFrancesca CONTI (GK), Martina MICELI (1), Carmella ALLUCCI, Silvia BOSURGI, Erika LAVA, Manuela ZANCHI (2), Tania DI MARIO (3), Cinzia RAGUSA, Giusi MALATO, Alexandra ARAUJO, Maddalena MUSUMECI (1), Melania GREGO (2), Noemi TOTH, Simona ABBATE
\nHEAD COACH: Pierluigi FORMICONI<\/p>\n
RESULTS SINCE 2000: First place 2001 World Championships; fifth place 2002 World Cup; second place 2003 World Championships.<\/p>\n
RESULTS OF FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE SUPER FINALS:
\nDay One: (1-0) – ITALY defeated HUNGARY, 6-4
\nDay Two: (2 -0) – ITALY defeated AUSTRALIA, 11-8
\nDay Three: (3-0) – ITALY defeated CANADA, 13-8
\nTODAY: (3-1) – ITALY lost to USA, 9-10<\/p>\n
TOP ITALY SCORERS IN FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE:
\nGREGO (11), ZANCHI (7), DI MARIO (7), BOSURGI (5), MALATO (4)<\/p>\n
COMPOSITION OF TEAM AND SCORERS:<\/p>\n
USA: 10
\nNicolle PAYNE, Jacqueline FRANK (GK), Heather PETRI, Ericka LORENZ (1), Brenda VILLA (3), Ellen ESTES, Natalie GOLDA (2), Margaret DINGELDEIN, Kelly RULON, Heather MOODY (1), Robin BEAUREGARD (1), Amber STACHOWSKI (2), Thalia MUNRO
\nHEAD COACH: Guy BAKER<\/p>\n
RESULTS SINCE 2000: Silver medal 2000 Olympic Games, fourth place 2001 World Championships, second place 2002 World Cup, Gold Medal 2003 World Championships<\/p>\n
RESULTS OF FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS:
\nDay One: (1-0) – USA defeated KAZAKHSTAN, 10-4
\nDay Two: (1-1) – USA lost to RUSSIA, 5-10
\nDay Three: (2-1) – USA defeated GREECE, 9-7
\nTODAY: (3-1) – USA defeated ITALY, 10-9<\/p>\n
TOP USA SCORERS IN FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE:
\nVILLA (8), ESTES (5), LORENZ (5), GOLDA (5), DINGELDEIN (3)<\/p>\n
POWER PLAYS:
\nITALY: 4\/13
\nUSA: 6\/19<\/p>\n
REFEREES: Stephane ROY (CAN) & Vladimir PRIKODKO (KAZ)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONG BEACH, June 27. Game Sixteen: ITALY vrs. USA ITALY, 9 – USA, 10 ( 3:3, 1:2, 1:3, 4-2 ) GAME NOTES: USA saw it\u00b9s three-goal lead trimmed but held<\/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-7455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n