The Australian women’s water polo team contesting the Junior World Championships in Greece have defeated the Netherlands 13-9 to earn a crossover match with Spain.
Consistent offensive play delivered the Australian junior women’s water polo team their first victory of the 11th FINA World Women’s Junior Water Polo Championships in Volos, Greece, after the side had earlier recorded defeats against Canada and Italy.
Playing to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive, the young Aussies controlled the early portion of the game as they put their best foot forward to beat the Netherlands 13-9 and scrape into third place in Group C.
Aware that a loss would bail them out of the tournament, Australia opened up a four-goal half time lead and while that gap fluctuated in the second half, they withstood the attacks from the Netherlands to maintain their margin at the final whistle.
Following a frustrating pair of opening games where missed opportunities in front of goals had quelled Australia’s strong play, coach Eddie Denis said that the team showed a much more thorough effort to win against the Dutch.
“It was a much more complete game today,” Denis said.
“We started off with very good defence and our finishing in attack was consistently good throughout the game.
“We knew we had to win. The girls were keen for the game, keen to improve and attacked it.”
Up next for the Aussies will be a crossover game to determine who they play in the quarterfinal round, their opponent for that encounter will be Spain.The crossover will be played at 8pm local time on Thursday August 20 (1am Perth time Friday August 21) in Volos.
The Netherlands had entered the game sitting on two points for the group stage and Australia were acutely aware that a win would put them equal with that, meaning that their final standing would be determined on goal differential.
Newcastle’s Montana Perkins wasted no time in giving the Aussies the upper hand, scoring her first of three goals one minute into the game, Fiona Walsh (2) and Lena Mihailovic also scored in the first half for Australia to open up a commanding 5-1 lead by half time.
In previous games the third term had been the Achilles heel for Australia and while not as strong yet again; they held the Dutch at bay to lead 9-5 at the final break. Both teams scored four goals in the final period, Casey sealing the victory for Australia with a penalty goal that she said was converted without nerves playing a part.
“I didn’t even think about nerves, I knew the team trusted me to take the shot and I didn’t second guess myself,” Casey said.
“We put everything into this game as we knew it was make or break. All the girls really stepped up today and each game we are improving in both attack and defence.
“We are very excited but also know that we have to keep improving to go further in the tournament.”
The Australian team features two WAIS scholarship holders, with Jessica Zimmerman and Genevieve Longman both in the squad.
-WaterPoloAus
