Australia edges Team USA
IRVINE — The pool deck was packed at Beckman High on Thursday night, as the USA Water Polo women’s national team played its final California game before competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.
What the fans saw turned out to be noteworthy for other reasons.
Australia’s Nicola Zagame scored the game-winning goal with 49 seconds left and the Stingers hung on for a 5-4 victory, handing Team USA its first loss of 2016.
The United States is the reigning Olympic champion and currently the top-ranked team in the world. But Team USA never led in the second half in Thursday’s physical matchup, as Australia got a bit of revenge after losing the first two games of the teams’ three-game series earlier this week.
It was Team USA’s first loss since falling to the Netherlands last December in the Holiday Cup.
“We hear a lot that we’re unbeatable and how great we are,” said U.S. Coach Adam Krikorian, whose team won the FINA World Championships last August in Russia. “This is a good lesson for us to learn that we’re not unbeatable. There’s a ton of other teams that are as talented as Australia that we’re going to have to reckon with. We’re going to have to be on our game to finish where we want to finish come the Olympic Games, and this is a good reminder of that for us.”
Missed chances proved to be a theme for the U.S., which finished two for eight on the power play and was scoreless in five such chances in the second half. Australia goalie Lea Yanitsas made some stellar saves and finished with 11, but Krikorian was frustrated that his team seemed impatient at times.
“We didn’t play with the composure necessary to win a tight game,” Krikorian said. “I thought we had a ton of good looks early and even late, but we were rushed in everything we were doing. Anytime we got in front of the goal, we didn’t take a second to get balanced, take a deep breath and stay composed, and I thought that was the difference in the game … I’m not discrediting their goal play, because she played wonderful tonight, but I wanted us to challenge her a little more than we did.”
Team USA had plenty of chances to take the lead, especially in the third quarter after the first half ended tied 3-3. Former Newport Harbor High and USC star Kaleigh Gilchrist’s shot from in close midway through the third was saved by Yanitsas, and the rebound attempt by Melissa Seidemann went off the post.
After Gilchrist earned an exclusion in transition, she fed Newport Beach resident and team captain Maggie Steffens, but Yanitsas was again able to stop the redirect late in the third. She yet again came up big after Makenzie Fischer got open, and the score stayed tied at 3-3.
The Australia Stingers took the lead early in the fourth when Gemma Beadsworth connected from six meters. On two straight Team USA possessions after that, the physical play frustrated Krikorian.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he yelled toward the referee, who wasn’t kidding that he wasn’t going to blow his whistle.
“She’s got to swim, for Christ sake,” Krikorian said on the second possession.
Team USA still tied up the score. Former CdM star Maddie Musselman, who had a power-play goal in the first half, flipped to Steffens before swimming back on defense to cover an Australian player who was breaking free. Steffens delivered from seven meters, burying the shot into the upper right corner with 3:46 to play to tie the score at 4-4.
But Team USA couldn’t convert on two more power plays. Australia got its own in the final two minutes, and Team USA had just drawn even when Beadsworth buried her game-winning skip shot into the right corner.
Musselman gave the Americans one last chance, getting open on the weak side in the closing seconds. But Yanitsas was able to tip away her lob shot.
“The whole game she’s been diving near-side, so I tried to switch it up,” Musselman said. “I didn’t place it right … but next time. Next time I’ll get it.”
Former Los Alamitos High star Rachel Fattal (UCLA) played well for Team USA with a goal, two field blocks and three steals. Goalie Sami Hill made four of her six saves in the second half.
Bronwen Knox, Rowie Webster and Ash Southern also scored for Australia.
Krikorian said that Team USA will take a 14-player roster to the FINA World League Super Final, which begins June 7 in Shanghai, China. Team USA leaves for China on Saturday.
When the team gets back, the 13-player Olympic team roster will be announced June 16 at the LA84 Foundation in Los Angeles.
In the meantime, Musselman and her teammates know that they can’t take their favored status for granted.
“Every game’s going to be a really tough game for us, especially because we’re the USA and everyone wants to beat us,” Musselman said. “We’re the Olympic champions of 2012, and everyone wants to put us down. We’ve been very successful, and that’s going to add fury to a lot of other teams. We expect that and we love it, because it brings out the competition. It just shows that any team can win. We have to play together, play as a team.”
