U.S. women's water polo team reaches game it expected to play in all along — the one for the gold medal
TOKYO — The U.S. women’s water polo team, a sports juggernaut as dominant as any the United States has sent to these Olympic Games, was behind and a little out of sorts as the first half of Thursday’s semifinal with Russia was coming to a close.
Winners of the last two Olympic gold medals and the favorites to win this one too, the Americans had been behind by three goals for much of the second quarter to a team they defeated 18-5 last week.
So when the United States’ Melissa Seidemann scored from long range with one second remaining in the first half to bring the Americans within one, 7-6, coach Adam Krikorian felt his team’s fortunes start to change.
“That shot was huge,” he said. "I think that goal right there at the end really kind of settled us down a bit. We were getting plenty of chances, we just couldn’t finish. As a coach, sometimes you don’t need to do much other than say, keep doing what you’re doing and just settle down, and we came out great in the second half.”
Indeed they did. The United States tied the game within the first minute of the second half, and didn’t give up a goal to Russia for the final 5½ minutes of the game, scoring the last four goals to win, 15-11.
The Americans will play Spain Saturday for the gold medal, after Spain defeated Hungary 8-6 in the other semifinal. The United States lost to Hungary, 10-9, in group play earlier in the tournament for its first loss at the Olympics since 2008. The team had been 19-0 this year, before that.
But teams have risen to the occasion during these Games when facing the Americans, which is exactly what the Russians did Thursday.
“We always expect everyone’s best. We struggled a little in the first half, they showed up, they played really well,” said Alys Williams, who scored one of those four final U.S. goals to end Russia’s upset bid.
“We struggled defensively for sure in the first half and I think just trying to reset our defense, that’s what we pride ourselves in, so resetting there and trying to limit their goals was a huge point of emphasis for us in the second half.”
Her teammate Maddie Musselman scored five goals, four in the second-half American surge.
“We all took a deep breath at halftime,” she said. “It’s a new start in the second half, and I thought that was huge for us to not make it super frantic but being patient and aggressive at the same time, balancing that in the second half was huge for us.”
There was no doubt the U.S. comeback was triggered by a stepped-up defensive effort.
“Making stops on defense, then that leads into counterattacking on offense and making that extra pass so that it’s an easier shot in the end,” Musselman said. "For us, that’s tipping the ball on defense and making it easier for our goalie to block the ball and using your speed down the pool to be able to get up on your legs and finish.
“It’s huge when we’re able to do that,” she said. “Every piece goes together.”
As she looked back on a satisfying victory, Musselman also inevitably looked ahead.
“We’re not done yet,” she said. “We’ll probably celebrate for one meal and that’s about it and it’s on to the next game.”
The next game, which is the last game, the one for the gold medal, the game they have expected to play in all along.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Olympics water polo: U.S. women's team to face Spain for gold medal
