Courtesy: USA Water Polo
PERTH, Australia – The USA Women’s National Team will play for gold at the FINA Intercontinental Tournament following a 14-7 win over Canada. Alys Williams (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Huntington Beach WPC) and Kiley Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) scored three goals each in the win with Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) adding 11 saves in net in the win. Team USA now advances to meet host Australia for the title at 5:30pm local time/5:30am et/2:30am pt on Sunday. 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 6-2 lead at halftime only to see Canada battle back in the third quarter. A combined 11 goals were scored as Canada got their offense in gear, trailing 11-6 going to the fourth. Team USA’s defense returned to form in the fourth quarter holding Canada to just one goal, while adding three more of their own on the way to victory. Team USA went 2/5 on power plays with Canada going 2/6 with neither side attempting a penalty shot.
Williams was named player of the match for her efforts. She added, “our team isn’t really big on taking credit for things, playing with this group of girls again after a little bit of time off feels really good. My teammates are great at setting each other up and I just happened to be in the right places at the right times, so it feels really good.”
On looking ahead to Australia, Williams said: “Similar to Canada, Australia brings a great game every single time and it’s a long-standing, lasting rivalry. We’re really excited to be playing them, especially at their home pool. I think it’s going to bring a whole other level of excitement. I hope we get a huge crowd out, loud fans, loud music. I think it will be a good experience for both teams.”
Scoring
USA 14 (4, 2, 5, 3) A. Williams 3, K. Neushul 3, J. Raney 2, B. Games 2, K. Gilchrist 2, R. Fattal 1, M. Steffens 1
CAN 7 (1, 1, 4, 1) S. Fournier 2. E. Lemay-Lavoie 2, K. Alogbo 1, J. Bekhazi 1, H. McKelvey 1
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 11
6×5 – USA – 2/5 – CAN – 2/6
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – CAN – 0/0