Despite major struggles on the power play, the USA Women’s National Team did enough defensively to defeat the Netherlands 6-4 in day one action at the FINA World League Super Final. Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Stanford/NYAC) scored three goals to lead the offense while Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/SD Shores) recorded eight saves in net. Team USA went 0/8 on the advantage and 0/1 on penalty shots but built an early lead and held on for the win. The United States is back in action on Wednesday when they meet Japan at 12:00am pt. Currently no live streaming of this event is available, any updates will be made available at USAWaterPolo.org.
Team USA opened up a 3-0 lead after the first quarter and went ahead 4-2 at halftime. The two teams each scored twice in the third quarter leaving the United States ahead 6-4 and bringing an end to the scoring in this match. Both sides failed to find the back of the net in the fourth and Team USA took the victory by two goals.
While the United States struggled on the power play, the Netherlands was not much better at 2/8 on player advantages and no attempts on penalty shots.
Scoring
USA 6 (3, 1, 2, 0) K. Neushul 3, A. Fischer 1, J. Raney 1, M. Steffens 1
NED 4 (0, 2, 2, 0)
Saves – USA – G. Stone 8
6×5 – USA 0/8 – NED – 2/8
Penalties – USA – 0/1 – NED – 0/0
Water Polo news courtesy of USA Water Polo.
