Italy took the lead at 7-6 of the fifth and never relented, capitalizing on USA miscues to build the lead.
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“We kind of say bring it on, ” Steffens said.
“I felt like we were losing momentum, and we got it back”, Johnson said. “Hungary’s a very physical team, that’s what makes them great”.
Italy stayed undefeated against Russian Federation in the earlier semifinal match, doing what they’ve done all tournament – played great defense and scored just enough to win. Arianna Garibotti pumped in five goals and Roberta Bianconi scored twice as Italy improved to a flawless 5-0 in Rio de Janeiro.
United States’ David Lee reacts after losing a men’s semifinal volleyball match against Italy at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016.
The gold medal game will take place Friday at 2:30 p.m. ET. “We set out to win and that’s what we’re going to do”.
With the USA paying close attention to Barbara Bujka in the middle, captain Rita Keszthelyi scored four times as Hungary became the first country to reach double digits against the US since Spain got 10 goals in a loss to the Americans on June 9. Conversely, Italy was up 21-19 in the second only to see the US rally, spurred by four straight USA points from Holt – three on blocks and one on a kill.
Rita Keszthelyi led Hungary with four goals, though Barbara Bujka, the team’s risky center forward, managed only two goals thanks to early foul trouble and aggressive US pressure. She scored four goals in that match as well. Maddie Musselman scored on two power plays and Kaleigh Gilchrist made it 8-4 with 3:06 left in the third. “They may have come in similar to how I was last squad as just a little pup trying to learn and soak in all the advice and experience from the older girls”.
Italy takes home the silver medal for just their second women’s water polo medal.
It is the ultimate prize for what has become the ultimate team in this sport, the Americans losing just a handful of games since the 2012 London Olympics, though only four players from the team returned for the Rio Games: Steffens, Kami Craig, Courtney Mathewson and Melissa Seidemann. When the final seconds ticked off, Krikorian walked over to congratulate Italy coach Fabio Conti, and then was tackled into the pool by a couple of his jubilant players. “We played completely different than the game’s ever been played before”. Anderson led everyone with 25 points on 18 kills, five aces and two blocks.
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 ideal conversion rate on all four power-play shots. “I think that maturity and the quality of both teams to not give up, to always fight to the end created an incredible match with high tension”, he said.
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Huanhuan Ma, Zihan Zhao and Xinyan Wang scored two goals each for China, and Jun Yang came away with 16 saves in goal. Teammate Maica Godoy added two goals. After carrying a 5-3 lead into halftime, the Americans put the game out of reach with a dominant third quarter, leading 9-4 going into the final period.
