The Australian women’s water polo team, the Aussie Stingers, have edged out Canada 5-4 to finish atop their group, and set up a clash with Brazil in the quarterfinal round of the FINA World League Intercontinental tournament in Auckland, New Zealand.
Although the Stingers did enough for victory, they struggled to control the game beyond the opening quarter, with the physical encounter opening up the opportunity for Canada to challenge for the win right up until the full time siren.
In similar fashion to their previous game against New Zealand, defence was the saving grace for the Australians, goalkeeper Lea Yanitsas withstanding consistent challenges from the Canadians up until the final five seconds of the game.
The Australians fired out of the gates at the beginning of the match to quickly establish a 3-1 lead, which saw Keesja Gofers and Bronte Halligan shoot well from the perimeter, while Hannah Buckling turned on her speed in a counter attack to also score.
However the classy start, which had the crowd assuming the Stingers were setting themselves up for a strong victory, soon became a distant memory as the Aussies could only manage a further two goals over the final three quarters of the game.
While the result wasn’t what the team would have hoped for heading into the quarterfinals, they will be able to draw on the positives in their strong defensive structure in the face of tough opposition.
With three wins on the trot, the Aussie Stingers will now begin the business end of the tournament when they play Brazil in their quarterfinal game at 4pm AEST tomorrow.
The winner of that game will progress to the semi finals, and also qualify for a place at the FINA World League Super Final, which will be held from June 9-14 in Shanghai, China.
WAIS athletes Gemma Beadsworth, Zoe Arancini and Lilian Hedges are members of the Australian Stingers squad.
-WaterPoloAus
