Courtesy: USA Water Polo
PERTH, Australia – The USA Women’s National Team advanced to the semifinals of the FINA Intercontinental Tournament with a 22-4 win over South Africa. The victory also confirmed Team USA’s berth to the FINA World League Super Final later this summer. Jamie Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) and Alys Williams (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Huntington Beach WPC) each scored four goals in the victory with Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/SD Shores) earning the win in net. Team USA returns to play on Saturday where they will meet Canada in the semifinals at 5:30am et/2:30am pt. All matches will stream live via subscription service FINA TV and can be accessed by clicking here. For the complete Team USA roster and schedule, click here.
Team USA raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first quarter and expanded it to a 9-2 advantage at halftime. They put the game away in the third quarter with a 7-0 outburst to build a 16-2 lead going to the fourth quarter. South Africa managed two more goals in the fourth but the match was decided as Team USA cruised to their fourth straight victory. The United States went 6/9 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties with South Africa going 3/7 on power plays with no penalties attempted.
“We’re behind where we want to be defensively, but we’re putting some goals on the board and we’re going to work it out and hopefully have a good semifinal and advance from there. We’ll talk a little bit and try to tighten things up defensively,” said Jamie Neushul. “The amount of time we have, we just have to get out and play our hardest and play the game we know how to play and hopefully everything works out. A lot of movement by my teammates out there today. I was the recipient of some great passes. Everyone can score on this team and everyone can play great defense. It could have been anyone.”
Scoring
USA 22 (4, 5, 7, 6) J. Neushul 4, A. Williams 4, S. Haralabidis 3, A. Hill 3, M. Steffens 3, K. Neushul 2, B. Games 2, J. Roemer 1
RSA 4 (0, 2, 0, 2) N. MacLeod 2, H. Calvert 1, A. Hallendorff 1
6×5 – USA – 6/9 – RSA – 3/7
Penalties – USA – 1/1 – RSA – 0/0