United States’ Kiley Neushul takes a shot on goal against two Hungarian defenders during their semi-final water polo match at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.
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His U.S. women’s water polo team had defeated Italy 12-5 on Friday in still another show of domination for a team that won its second Olympic gold medal in a row.
The world champions, who have won every major tournament they’ve contested since early in 2014, were never really troubled by Athens 2004 Olympic champions Italy.
Russian Federation won the bronze medal match over Hungary, 19-18.
Usain Bolt seeks to say his goodbye with another gold medal Friday night at the Rio de Janeiro Games, where another Olympic juggernaut – the USA men’s basketball team – faces Spain in the semifinals.
The victory was particularly poignant given how coach Adam Krikorian had flown home shortly before the start of the tournament to be with his family following the death of his brother, Blake.
The win meant a second gold medal for returning Olympian Courtney Mathewson, who played at Canyon High and UCLA.
Midway through the first quarter, however, the US fell behind 2-1 and trailed for the first time at the Games.
Garibotti scored seven times in Italy’s first four games. We have athleticism, and I think this team was one of the first teams to display all those different styles in one team.. They have officially medaled in every Olympics women’s water polo has been a part of.
Friday, eight players total scored for the US, including the first five goals coming from different players: Mathewson, Kiley Neushul, Craig, Makenzie Fischer and Rachel Fattal.
But when Italy came back down the pool, Bianconi picked up an exclusion in front of the goal, allowing a penalty shot that landed in the corner of the goal, and ultimately landed Italy in the gold medal game.
The Americans pounded Brazil 13-3 before outslugging Hungary 14-10 in the semifinals.
The U.S. missed the opportunity to score on a power play but pulled in the rebound.
The team’s recent record, including a winning streak of at least 22 games, has rarely been matched in the history of the sport, which only added women’s play to the Olympics in 2000. “And to do that, to do something that extremely emotional and to do it in front of your teammates, creates this compassion for one another that helps us become tighter as a unit and helps us know each other a little better”. “Hungary’s a very physical team, that’s what makes them great”.
Neushul scored three times in Friday’s game.
“She was pretty dominant”, coach Adam Krikorian said. I watched a little bit of their semifinal and I saw how well they were shooting the ball from the outside.
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Following his team’s loss a stunned Italian coach, Fabio Conti, summed up the USA team’s abilities this way: “They are from out of this universe”.
