Courtesy: USA Water Polo
KUNSHAN, China – The USA Women’s National Team picked up their second straight win at the FINA World League Super Final with a 12-5 victory over Canada. Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) matched her output from yesterday’s win over Japan with three more goals today. Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) did the job in net recording six saves.
Team USA returns to play tomorrow against Russia at 3am et/12am pt. The match will stream live on FINA TV (subscription required) and can be accessed by clicking here. For more information on day two of the FINA World League Super Final, click here.
A rematch of the 2017 Super Final title bout, Team USA and Canada were even at 1-1 early on until goals from Fattal and Jamie Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) secured a 3-1 lead after the first. Neushul finished the day with two goals, five assists and two field blocks. In the second quarter, Team USA went ahead 5-1 before Canada rallied to make it a 5-3 game at intermission.
Things changed in the third period with the United States outscoring Canada 5-0 to take control of the match. Ahead 10-3 going into the fourth quarter, the two sides played a more even match scoring two goals apiece. Canada drew to within 11-5 but would get no closer as the United States went on for the 12-5 victory. Team USA and Canada both went 5/8 on power plays with neither side attempting a penalty.
“It’s not easy playing Canada. Canada is always tough,” said captain Maggie Steffens. “They pushed the counter good and on attack we had trouble finding an opening. We were rushing things a bit, including myself, but we will get better. We had some great plays with Jamie Neushul, Rachel Fattal and Alys Williams. We have to go more with the movement game and produce smarter plays. It’s not over until the fourth quarter.”
Scoring
USA 12 (3, 2, 5, 2) R. Fattal 3, P. Hauschild 2, J. Neushul 2, B. Games 1, M. Seidemann 1, K. Gilchrist 1, S. Haralabidis 1, A. Williams 1
CAN 5 (1, 2, 0, 2) S. Fournier 2, E. Wright 1, M. Eggens 1, J. Bekhazi 1
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 6
6 x 5 – USA – 5/8 – CAN – 5/8
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – CAN – 0/0