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.
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The Americans successfully defended their Olympic title from 2012 with a 12-5 victory over Italy.
But no U.S. Olympic team, or individual athlete, outmatched competitors as resoundingly as a women’s water polo squad that won the gold medal on Friday.
Friday’s women’s water polo gold medal match will pit the US, the defending gold medalists, against Italy, the 2004 gold medalists and the last team to defeat the USA more than a year ago.
The U.S. captain helped stave off a challenge from Hungary in a 14-10 victory in a semifinal game at the Olympic Aquatics Center. The Americans finally took control in the third quarter on Steffens’ third goal for an 11-6 margin. He was one of three double-digit scorers for the US, with Kevin Durant adding 14 points and Kyrie Irving 13, and DeAndre Jordan was the anchor defensively with 16 rebounds and four blocks to go along with nine points.
“I don’t really know how to express myself fully right now, but it’s really cool”, said hero of the hour Simanovich after collecting her medal, while Hungary coach Attila Biro put on a courageous face after their latest Olympic disappointment: “We are happy we belong to the top four sides here at the Olympic Games, but we feel disappointment because we had the medal in our hand”.
Hungary gave the USA their toughest match of the tournament; they were the first to score double digits. Eight of the 10 swimmers scored at least once, led by Kiley Neushul, who had three goals on four shots.
Steffens gave the Americans a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter and the United States held off every Hungarian charge thanks to goalkeeper Ashley Johnson’s eight saves and a flawless conversion rate on all four power-play shots.
The fourth set resembled the first two, but with neither team taking much of a lead.
Team USA has scored in double figures in its past 17 games, and has been held to single digits six times, five times by Australia and once by Spain. “I thought it was going to be an incredibly hard volleyball match for us”.
In another Olympics dominated by US women, Steffens – the MVP and probably the best player in the world – and her teammates shined as brightly as any of them.
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. It’s the only country to finish on the podium in each of the five Olympics for women’s water polo.
Conti said Italy will be studying game video and hopes to arrive on Friday with a solid gameplan that gives them a chance to upset the tournament favorite.
“We knew it would be a physical, tough, strong game, ” USA center Kami Craig said.
I’m not going to say that it doesn’t make your heart warm. That made us change the game-plan and start attacking her a little more.
Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson was named the tournament’s top goalkeeper after saving more than 65 percent of the shots that came her way.
“It was odd. There was a really strong force inside us telling us, ‘Don’t give up, keep fighting, ‘” Italy’s Ivan Zaytsev said.
“Who am I, regardless of what happened to my family, to ruin that for them. She’s someone that we can count on to play with intelligence and intensity all the time”, Krikorian said. We knew very well there is a big difference (between us), but perhaps not as big as today’s score suggests.
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Krikorian, who received his one and only red card since joining the national team following the 2009 college season, will likely keep his composure this time around. “We’re going to have our hands full, no doubt”.
