The USA Women’s National Team picked up their second straight win at the FINA World Cup with an 8-6 defeat of Australia. Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) and Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/Trojan) scored two goals each in the victory while Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/Gulliver Riptides) posted seven saves in net. Team USA returns to action on Thursday when they take on Hungary at 12:30am pt. A live webcast will be offered through FINA TV starting in the quarterfinals on Friday and can be accessed by clicking here. For complete tournament results, visit the official FINA website by clicking here.
In the win over Australia, the United States got off to a strong start leading 2-0 after the first period and 5-2 at halftime. Australia looked to battle back in the third scoring two goals but the United States answered with two of their own to maintain a three goal lead at 7-4. The Aussies outscored Team USA 2-1 in the fourth but it wouldn’t be enough to complete a comeback as the United States took the match 8-6.
Team USA went 5/6 on power plays while Australia was just 4/10. “We played fairly sloppy today, but I was happy we found a way to win, ” said USA Head Coach Adam Krikorian.
Scoring
USA 8 (2, 3, 2, 1) R. Fattal 2, K. Gilchrist 2, M. Seidemann 1, C. Mathewson 1, K. Neushul 1, K. Craig 1
AUS 6 (0, 2, 2, 2)
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 7
6×5 – USA – 5/6 – AUS 4/10
Water Polo News / Swimming News courtesy of USA Water Polo.