Toronto, Canada – July 7 – The U.S. Pan American Women’s Water Polo Team opened up the competition at the Atos Markham Pan Am Centre in strong fashion with a 25-3 victory over Mexico earlier today.
Ashley Grossman (Santa Monica, CA/Stanford/LA Water Polo) and Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/Diablo) each scored four goals to lead the offensive outburst while Sami Hill (Santa Barbara, CA/UCLA/Santa Barbara) went the distance in net stopping nine shots.
Team USA returns to competition on Wednesday when they meet Cuba at 10am et/7am pt. Team USA closes out group play on Saturday when they take on Argentina at 8am et/5am pt. No live streaming or television coverage is available but you can follow live match updates via Twitter.com/USAWP. For complete Pan Ams results, click here.
Team USA wasted little time getting on the board against Mexico as Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC) found the back of the net just thirty seconds into the contest. Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/Santa Barbara) followed on a power play goal and Team USA was off to the races. Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/Diablo) got free on the counter attack while Grossman scored the first of her four goals on the day to build a 5-0 lead with 41 seconds left in the first. Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/Corona del Mar HS/CdM Aquatics) closed the scoring in the first half with a tally for a 6-0 lead.
If possible, the Team USA offense found another level in the second quarter as they scored a goal on their first six possessions. Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) scored twice in the run and Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/Stanford) got on the board for a 12-0 lead with 5:12 to play. Mexico broke through with a goal on the next possession connecting on a power play for a 12-1 deficit. That did little to deter Team USA as they piled up four more goals for a 16-1 lead going to the third.
The second half was more of the same as the United States delivered seven more goals to take a 23-1 advantage. Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/Santa Barbara) scored with 5:02 left in the period leaving all 11 field players for Team USA with at least one goal. The United States closed things out in the fourth period adding on two more goals to finish winners at 25-3.
Team USA went 1/2 on the power play and 1/1 on penalty shots while Mexico was 1/3 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty.
Scoring – Scoresheet
USA 25 (6, 10, 7, 2) M. Steffens 4, A. Grossman 4, K. Neushul 3, R. Fattal 3, M. Musselman 2, M. Seidemann 2, K. Clark 2, C. Mathewson 2, K. Gilchrist 1, K. Craig 1, M. Fischer 1
MEX 3 (0, 1, 0, 2) M. Rios 2, E. Flores 2
Saves – USA – S. Hill – 9 – Mex – A. Alanis 5 – M. Espadas 2
6×5 – USA – 1/2 – MEX – 1/3
Penalties – USA – 1/1 – MEX – 0/0
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.
