Courtesy: USA Water Polo
GWANGJU, South Korea – The two-time defending FINA World Champions delivered a strong statement to open play at the 2019 edition in Gwangju, South Korea. The USA Women’s National Team defeated New Zealand 22-3 backed by five goals from Stephania Haralabidis (Athens, Greece/USC/NYAC) plus a combined nine saves in net from Amanda Longan (Moorpark, CA/USC/Santa Barbara 805) and Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC).
Team USA moves to 1-0 in Group A action with a match against the Netherlands on Tuesday at 7:10pm local time/6:10am et/3:10am pt. The match will air LIVE on Olympic Channel and stream live by clicking here (cable authentication required).
Team USA jumped out to a 8-0 lead in the first quarter overwhelming one of the younger teams in the competition as Paige Hauschild (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/Santa Barbara 805) scored the first two goals of the period and Haralabidis added the last three. New Zealand got on the board in the second quarter but Team USA had four more goals to build a 12-1 lead at halftime. They put the match away in the third quarter with six unanswered goals from six different scorers started by Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET) and finished by Kiley Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC). New Zealand added two more goals in the fourth but it wouldn’t factor in the decision as Team USA picked up the victory at 22-3.
The United States went 4/5 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties while New Zealand was 2/8 on power plays with no penalties attempted. For more on the USA roster at the FINA World Championships, click here for the roster announcement. For more on broadcast coverage, click here.
Scoring – Stats
USA 22 (8, 4, 6, 4) S. Haralabidis 5, P. Hauschild 3, A. Fischer 3, R. Fattal 2, K. Neushul 2, K. Gilchrist 2, M. Fischer 2, A. Williams 1, M. Musselman 1, M. Steffens 1
NZL 3 (0, 1, 0, 2) B. Doyle 2, M. McDowall 1
Saves – USA – A. Longan 5, A. Johnson 4 – NZL – B. Layburn 4
6×5 – USA – 4/5 – NZL – 2/8
Penalties – USA – 2/2 – NZL – 0/0
