Shanghai, China – June 13 – The USA Women’s Senior National Team will have a chance to win their record ninth FINA World League Super Final crown on Sunday after defeating the Netherlands 8-5 in semifinal action earlier today. Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/Santa Barbara), Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach HS/SET), and Ashley Grossman (Santa Monica, CA/Stanford/LAWPC) all scored two goals in the win to guide the offense. Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/Miami Riptides) earned another win in net with 10 saves. Team USA moves on to meet Australia in the gold medal match on Sunday at 7pm local time/4am pt.
The fourth meeting between the two teams in the last two weeks was the closest with Team USA holding a 2-1 lead after the first period. In the the second they added three more goals to build a 5-2 advantage. Team USA looked to pull away in the third period as they outscored the Dutch 3-0 and took an 8-2 advantage. The Netherlands looked to rally in the fourth quarter as they scored three unanswered goals to draw within 8-5 but would get no closer.
Team USA went 1/4 on power plays while the Netherlands went 2/5 with neither team attempting a penalty shot.
“It’s tough playing a team four times in ten days,” said USA Head Coach Adam Krikorian. “I was happy with our effort defensively but we could have played much better in the fourth quarter.”
Scoring
USA 8 (2, 3, 3, 0) A. Grossman 2, M. Fischer 2, K. Craig 2, R. Fattal 1, K. Gilchrist 1
NED 5 (1, 1, 0, 3)
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 10
6×5 – USA – 1/4 – NED 2/5
Penalties – USA 0/0 – NED 0/0
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.