LONG BEACH, June 27.<\/p>\n
Game Nineteen: RUSSIA vrs. ITALY
\nRUSSIA, 15 – ITALY, 14
\n( 0:1, 2:3, 3:2, 5:4 )
\n( 3:3 penalty shoot-out )
\n( 1:2 sudden victory penalty shoot-out)<\/p>\n
TEAM STANDINGS:
\nITALY wins BRONZE MEDAL
\nRUSSIA finishes in FOURTH place<\/p>\n
GAME NOTES:
\nItaly survived sudden-death, penalty shootout to beat Russia for bronze
\nmedal.<\/p>\n
The game was locked at 10 by full time and 13 after the mandatory five
\npenalty shots. Italy then won the sudden-death phase 2-1 and collect $20,000
\nUS while Russia took home $15,000.<\/p>\n
No side gave anything away in the opening quarter until Tania Di Mario
\nscored off deep left-hand catch with her right arm at 1:27. Pressure was
\neverywhere and shots were pushed off target.<\/p>\n
The second period was far different with the floodgates opening. Silvia
\nBosurgi began the tidal wave with a score off extra from the top at 7:20.
\nThe Russians responded with an identical shot less than a minute later
\nthrough Maria Yaina. Alexandra Araujo pushed Italy out to a 3-1 lead on the
\npower play, receiving the ball from the point down to her right-hand
\npostposition. Yaina responded three minutes later but Miceli made certain of
\nan Italian lead at halftime with a simple power-play goal from four metres.<\/p>\n
Ekaterina Salimova on action and Yaina with her third, this time on extra,
\nhad the game level at 4-4 by 7:40. Yaina\u00b9s smile said it all. Italy drew a
\npenalty at the other end and Di Mario converted for 5-4. Yaina nailed her
\nfourth with a deft lob from deep right-hand catch and the game was locked at
\n5-5. Italy went to a timeout and Manuela Zanchi converted, tipping in a
\ncross pass with just 47 seconds left in the period for 6-5 up. At the other
\nend of the pool Zanchi gave up a penalty foul but Olga Turova had her
\nbottom-right shot blocked by Francesco Conti.<\/p>\n
Di Mario moved the margin to two at 6:50 of the final quarter but that
\nmarvellous woman Yaina scored her fifth from deep right-hand catch on the
\nbounce. Turova scored one from the other side and Italy\u00b9s lead was
\neliminated. Martina Miceli shot to the left but the ball deflected off a
\nRussian defender and bounced across goalkeeper Valentina Vorontova\u00b9s chest
\ninto the goal for 8-7. Yaina scored her sixth from the penalty line and
\nMaddalena Musumeci received a long cross pass from her skipper Carmella
\nAllucci. Then the Yaina train steamed in with a goal on extra \u00ad her seventh.
\nThen Russia had the break on its next attack with the lob shot tipped away
\nby Conti. However, Ekaterina Vasileva followed up and pushed the ball into
\ngoal for 10-10 at 0:33. No more goals and the game went to a penalty
\nshoot-out.<\/p>\n
Yaina scored first and Bosurgi missed in the first two shots. Anastasia
\nZubkova and Di Mario scored. Vasileva converted and Miceli missed giving
\nRussia a 13-11 lead. Natalia Shepelina missed, hitting the post and Allucci
\nconverted for 13-12. Tatiana Petrova hit the right post and it was left to
\nMelania Grego to tie the game after the regulation five shots each. She did,
\nsending it into sudden death. Yaina scored her ninth goal, obviously a World
\nLeague record, which might take some time to be beaten. Bosurgi made it
\n14-14. Zubkova had her shot saved by Conti on an outstretched had. Di Mario
\ntook time to shoot but when she did it went in for a 15-14 victory and the
\nbronze medal.<\/p>\n
FLASH QUOTES:
\nITALY (15)
\nCOACH: PIERLUIGI FORMICONI
\nON OVERALL PERFORMANCE: \u201cWe win many, many matches, and we lose many, many matches. I hope my team will be good in 1 month and 15 days (Olympics).\u201d
\nPREFER REGULAR GAME OR OVERTIME: \u201cI prefer overtime, because that\u2019s when you must play. You must shoot. I know my girls. They are like ice. No problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
PLAYER # 1 FRANCESCA CONTI (GOALIE)
\nON OVERALL PERFORMANCE: \u201cBefore, we played OK, after the last two games, OK.
\nON INSTINCT TO GO TO THE LEFT IN SHOOT-OUT: \u201cThe last two times (shots) during the match, she (unknown Russian player) went to the left.\u201d<\/p>\n
RUSSIA (14):
\nCOACH: ALEXANDER KLEYMENOV<\/p>\n
PLAYER # 4: SOFYA KONUKH
\nRESULTS OF GAME: \u201cIt is like a lottery. Anyone can win.\u201d
\nNEXT FOR TEAM: \u201cWe will have a week off and then start practicing again.\u201d<\/p>\n
PLAYER # 10: OLGA TUROVA
\nABOUT GAME: \u201cIt was frustrating because the 1st three goals we scored were not counted. We\u2019re upset about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
COMPOSITION OF TEAM AND SCORERS:<\/p>\n
RUSSIA: 14
\nValentina VORONTSOVA (GK), Natalia SHEPELINA, Ekaterina SALIMOVA (1), Sofya
\nKONUKH, Elena SMUROVA, Galina ZLOTNIKOVA, Anastasia ZUBKOVA (1) , Svetlana
\nBOGDANOVA, Tatiana PETROVA, Olga TUROVA (1), Ekaterina SHISHOVA, Ekaterina
\nVASIL'EVA (2), Maria YAINA (9), Natalia KUTUZOVA
\nHEAD COACH: Alexander KLEYMENOV<\/p>\n
RESULTS SINCE 2000: Third place 2000 Olympic Games; sixth place 2001 World Championships; fourth place 2002 World Cup, third place 2003 World Championships, fourth place 2004 World League Super Final.<\/p>\n
RESULTS OF THE FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE SUPER FINALS:
\nDay One: (1-0) – RUSSIA defeated GREECE, 11-9
\nDay Two: (2-0) – RUSSIA defeated USA, 10-5
\nDay Three: (3-0) – RUSSIA defeated KAZAKHSTAN, 10-6
\nDay Four: (3-1) – RUSSIA lost to HUNGARY, 7-8
\nTODAY: (3-2) – RUSSIA lost to ITALY, 14-15<\/p>\n
TOP RUSSIAN SCORERS IN FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE SUPER FINAL:
\nKONUKH (10), YAINA (10), SALIMOVA (7), SMUROVA (6), BOGDANOVA (5), TUROVA (5)<\/p>\n
COMPOSITION OF TEAM AND SCORERS:<\/p>\n
ITALY: 15
\nFrancesca CONTI (GK), Martina MICELI (2), Carmella ALLUCCI (1), Silvia BOSURGI (2), Erika LAVA, Manuela ZANCHI (1), Tania DI MARIO (5), Cinzia RAGUSA, Giusi MALATO, Alexandra ARAUJO (2), Maddalena MUSUMECI (1), Melania GREGO (1), 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, third place (bronze medal) 2004 World League Super Finals.<\/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
\nDay Four: (3-1) – USA defeated ITALY, 9-10
\nTODAY: (4-1) – ITALY defeated RUSSIA, 15-14<\/p>\n
TOP ITALY SCORERS IN FINA WATER POLO WORLD LEAGUE SUPER FINAL:
\nGREGO (12), DI MARIO (12), ZANCHI (8), BOSURGI (7), ARAUJO (5)<\/p>\n
POWER PLAYS:
\nRUSSIA: 5\/6
\nITALY: 5\/7<\/p>\n
REFEREES: Stephane ROY – (CAN) & Atilla NEMETH – (HUN)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONG BEACH, June 27. Game Nineteen: RUSSIA vrs. ITALY RUSSIA, 15 – ITALY, 14 ( 0:1, 2:3, 3:2, 5:4 ) ( 3:3 penalty shoot-out ) ( 1:2 sudden victory penalty<\/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-7456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n