2016 RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Water Polo: August 6-13
- Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Barra Olympic Park, Rio de Janeiro
- Prelims – 9:00 a.m/12:00 p.m PST/EST (1:00 p.m local), Finals – 6:00 p.m/9:00 p.m PST/EST (10:00 p.m local)
- Schedule & Results
Russia, who had finished third in pool play in Group A, took down Spain, the number 2 finisher in Group B, in their quarterfinal matchup on Monday. It was a back-and-forth contest for four quarters, with Russia ultimately coming out on top, 12-10. Spain’s Matilde Ortiz Reyes put the first goal in the net within the first 60 seconds of play. Nadezhda Glyzina evened the score for Russia with 6:53 left to play. 20 seconds later Laura Lopez Ventosa put Spain back up again. Spain went up 3-1 when Paula Leiton Arrones scored on a power play with 3:52 left. Glyzina narrowed Spain’s lead to 1 point with a goal in the final minute of the quarter.
A minute and a half into the second period, Glyzina scored on a penalty shot to tie the game at 3-3.n Roser Tarrago Aymerich put one in the net with 4:14 to play but Evgeniya Ivanova tied it up again 40 seconds later. Anna Grineva put Russia up for the first time with 1:46 left on the clock, before Tarrago Aymerich connected to tie the game once again, with 10 seconds left to play. The teams headed off at halftime tied, 5-5.
The third quarter was a scoring feast, with Russia getting five goals and Spain, three. Anna Espar Llaquet opened the score putting Spain up 6-5 in the first 30 seconds. Anna Timofeeva evened the score at 6-6, then Lopez Ventosa scored on a penalty shot and Spain was back in the lead, 7-6. Russia then added two from Anastasia Simanovich and Glyzina before Leiton Arrones scored for Spain on a power play and brought the two teams even again at 8-8. Simanovich scored another goal with 2:27 left to play, then her teammate Ekaterina Prokofyeva got one past Spanish goalkeeper Laura Ester Ramos and the quarter ended with Russia leading by its largest margin, 10-8.
Spain and Russia each scored two goals in the final 8 minutes. Tarrago Aymerich picked up her third goal with 2:31 left to play. Over the next minute both Elvina Karimova and Prokofyeva scored for Russia. Lopez Ventosa put one more in the net for Spain before the clock ran out. The final score was 12-10.
Scoring for Russia: Nadezhda Glyzina (4); Ekaterina Prokofyeva (2); Anastasia Simanovich (2); Anna Timofeeva (1); Evgeniya Ivanova (1); Elvina Karimova (1); Anna Grineva (1).
Scoring for Spain: Roser Tarrago Aymerich (3); Laura Lopez Ventosa (3); Paula Leiton Arrones (2); Anna Espar Llaquet (1); Matilde Ortiz Reyes (1).
The loss takes 2012 silver medalists Spain out of medal contention. Russia will move on to the semifinals on Wednesday, where they will face Italy.