Courtesy: USA Water Polo
Brisbane, Australia – January 16 – For the first time since April 2, 2018 the USA Women’s National Team was on the losing end of a water polo match. The team’s 69-game win streak, believed to be an all-time record in the modern era of women’s water polo, was brought to a halt with a 10-9 loss to Australia in Brisbane. The USA Men’s National Team picked up their second win of 2020 taking a victory over Australia with an identical 10-9 result. The four teams will finish up their three-game series on Saturday with the USA Women playing at 2am et (11pm pst January 17) and the USA Men playing at 3:30am et/12:30am pt. Live streaming is available by clicking here. For more information on the series, click here. To see the USA rosters in Australia, click here for the men and click here for the women.
The USA Women snagged a 3-1 lead after the first quarter only to see Australia battle back with two unanswered goals in the second period to tie the match at 3-3 at halftime. The two sides were even in the third quarter scoring three goals apiece to leave the match level at 6-6 going to the fourth. The two sides were tied at 9-9 in the waning moments when Australian captain Rowie Webster connected on a penalty shot with thirty seconds to play to secure the victory.
Team USA was led by three goals from Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC) and two goals from Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/NYAC) alongside 10 saves by Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/San Diego Shores). The United States went 5/10 on power plays and 0/2 on penalties while Australia was 5/9 on power plays and 3/3 on penalties.
The USA Men took a decisive lead early in their match against Australia jumping out to a 3-0 advantage after the opening eight minutes. Australia came to life in the second quarter outscoring Team USA 4-3 to cut their deficit to 6-4 at halftime. The home team came all the way back in the third quarter with four more goals to tie the game at 8-8 going to the fourth. In the final period the United States clamped down on defense limiting Australia to just one goal while adding two of their own on the way to the one goal victory.
Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/NYAC), Johnny Hooper (Los Angeles, CA/California/Olympic Club) and Luca Cupido (Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy/California/Olympic Club) all scored two goals in the victory. Alex Wolf (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Bruin) went the distance in net to secure the win.
Streak Notes: During the USA Women’s National Team 69-game win streak they won a FINA World Championship, FINA World Cup, Pan American Games title and two FINA World League Super Final crowns. They also qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Their last loss on April 2, 2018 was also to Australia during the FINA Intercontinental Tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.
MEN
Full time: AUS 9 – USA 10
Qtr time: 0-3, 4-3, 4-2, 1-2
AUSTRALIA: 1. Joel Dennerley 2. Richard Campbell (2) 3. George Ford 4. Joe Kayes (2) 5. Nathan Power 6. Lachlan Edwards (1) 7. Aidan Roach (1) 8. Aaron Younger 9. Andrew Ford 10. Nic Brooks 11. Jarrod Gilchrist (1) 12. Blake Edwards (1)
USA: 1. Alexander Wolf 2. Johnathan Hooper (2) 3. Marko Vavic 4. Matthew Farmer (1) 5. Benjamin Hallock (1) 6. Luca Cupido (2) 7. Hannes Daube 8. Dylan Woodhead 9. Alexander Bowen (2) 10. Chancellor Ramirez (1) 11. Benjamin Stevenson (1) 12. Maxwell Irving
WOMEN
Full time score: AUS 10 – USA 9
Quarter time scores: 1-3, 2-0, 3-3, 4-3
Australia: 1. Lea Yanitsas 2. Keesja Gofers 3. Hannah Buckling 4. Bronte Halligan (2) 5. Isobel Bishop (1) 6. Bron Knox (1) 7. Rowie Webster (2) 8. Amy Ridge (2) 9. Zoe Arancini 10. Jessica Zimmerman 11. Matilda Kearns (1) 12. Pascalle Casey (1) 13. Lilian Hedges
USA: 1. Gabby Stone 2. Maddie Musselman 3. Melissa Seidemann 4. Rachel Fattal 6. Maggie Steffens (3) 8. Aria Fischer (1) 9. Kaleigh Gilchrist (2) 10. Makenzie Fischer 11. Alys William (1) 12. Jamie Neushul (1) 13. Ashleigh Johnson 14. Jordan Raney (1)
Saves – USA – Gabby Stone 10
6×5 – USA – 5/10 – AUS 5/9
Penalties – USA – 0/2 – AUS – 3/3
Noice
Nice.
Nice