The Aussie Stingers will play for bronze at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia after losing a tense semi final against the Olympic champions, USA, 8-6 on Wednesday night.
In what began as a typically tough goal for goal struggle between the perennial rivals, Australia stuck solid for the first half but a few split second lapses in defence allowed the Americans to score the first three goals of the second half to put the game out of reach.
The Australians will next hit the pool against Italy, who were sent to the bronze medal match after a nail biting 10-9 loss to the Netherlands in a penalty shootout, with the game to be played on Friday night at 8.30pm local time (1.30am Saturday Perth time).
Australian star Ash Southern said the team was devastated, having failed to win the individual player tussles.
“We’re obviously gutted,” Southern said.
“We go into these games trying to build each game and in this one we came out strong but I think we just let ourselves down one on one.
“We lost our one on one battles in defence. Our attack wasn’t great but in the end it came down to defence.
“We go onto the next game and hopefully we can win the bronze medal.”
The Stingers had put in a stellar performance that their coach Greg McFadden labelled ‘the best in years against another of the tournament’s semi finalists, the Netherlands, in their final group stage game last week but then almost fell to China in Monday’s quarterfinal. It took a penalty shootout to get them home but there was no sign of that anomaly in the first half against the Americans, McFadden’s troops showing up ready for battle.
The Americans opened the scoring less than a minute into proceedings when superstar centre forward Kami Craig squeezed between two Stingers’ defenders and beat goalie Lea Yanitsas’ flashing arms.
Keesja Gofers scored first for Australia after four minutes with a perfect shot in extraman and the centre forward Holly Lincoln-Smith worked her magic with a powerful backhand to give the Stingers the lead a minute later. The Americans hit back via Madeline Musselmann and at quarter time it was 2-2.
Lincoln-Smith’s power was evident again early in the second period, earning an exclusion that fellow London Olympic star Nicola Zagame was able to capitalise on in extraman to put Australia up 3-2.
The Americans scored the next two before Southern, sitting as a second centre forward, flicked one between defenders and beyond the goalkeeper. WAIS athlete Glencora McGhie then rifled a shot cross cage into the top left corner of the net from six metres out and it looked like Australia would go into the main intermission with a goal advantage until Rachel Fattal blasted a bounce shot into the bottom of the net from downtown with one second left in the half to make it 5-5.
Both teams had chances in the third stanza but the USA scored the only goal with a slick drive from captain Maggie Steffens to give them a 6-5 lead with one quarter left to earn a spot in the tournament decider.
Fattal scored again early in the fourth and Australia were suddenly in a two goal hole that, as hard as they tried, they couldn’t get out of. American veteran Melissa Seidemann made it even harder with 2:48 left in the game when her long range shot blasted off the crossbar into the back of Yanitsas’ head and into the goals.
Not even a penalty earned by Zagame at centre forward with two minutes to go could help Australia when WAIS athlete Zoe Arancini, one of the penalty shootout heroes against China, had her shot saved. Arancini made amends a minute later in extraman to bring it back to within two but time ran out and Australia was left to battle for bronze on Friday.
The Australian men’s team, who are out of medal contention and in the battle for fifth to eighth places, take on Montenegro at 3.30pm local time on Thursday (8.30pm Perth time). A win will see them fight for fifth, a loss will mean seventh is the top place they can finish the tournament.
-WaterPoloAus
