The Netherlands Outlast Canada
The Dutch team took an early lead against Canada and held on to win, 8-6, to finish in seventh place at the 2010 Women's FINA World League Super Final. Holland, behind three goals from Mieke Cabout and 11 saves from Ilse Van Der Meijden, duplicated their victory over the Canadians in the final game of the preliminary round. After opening up a 3-0 lead in the first quarter with goals from Cabout, Van Belkum, and Klassen, Canada cut into the lead with consecutive goals from Emily Csikos to narrow the deficit to one. An extra-man goal late in the first half by Nienke Vermeer sparked a four-goal run for the Dutch team that put the game out of reach for Canada. Christina Robinson put one past the Dutch keeper late in the third quarter that sent Canada on a four-goal run of its own, cutting the deficit to one on a quick shot by Joelle Bekhazi late in the fourth quarter. However, the Dutch responded on their next possession, icing the victory on a long shot by Mieke Cabout, her third goal of the game and 13th of the tournament.
NED 8 (3, 1, 3, 1) M. Cabout 3, I. Van Belkum 2, Y. Smit 1, N. Vermeer 1, L. Klaassen 1
CAN 6 (0, 2, 3, 1) E. Csikos 2, K. Alogbo 1, K. Monton 1, J. Bekhazi 1, C. Robinson 1
Saves
NED - Van Der Meijden 11
CAN - Riddell 5
" It is difficult to motivate the players when you are playing for 7th and 8th, but my grandfather always said that it is better to win than to lose."
-Mauro Maugeri, Head Coach, The Netherlands
"After the last two games, the team's faces were not too happy, but I think this win will help a little."
-Mauro Maugeri, Head Coach, The Netherlands
"I think Australia and the U.S. are the best two teams in this tournament, but I think it is very level. It was very well balanced, and was a good experience for my younger players."
-Mauro Maugeri, Head Coach, The Netherlands
"We had a slow start. I don't think the players want to be here because of the way we've been playing all week. We'll have to regroup and focus on the FINA Cup."
- Patrick Oaten, Head Coach, Canada
China Holds On, Beats Hungary for 5th Place
Two goals each from Gao Ao and Teng Fei propelled China past Hungary and earned them a 5th place finish at the 2010 FINA Women's World League Super Final. With the game tied 3-3 at the half, Ao put one in off the hands of the Hungarian keeper, Aniko Gyongyossy, before her teammate Sun Yating scored a backhand shot out of two meters to give the Chinese a two-goal lead. A Hungarian penalty shot- awarded because China had too many players in the water- cut the lead to one, but Liu Ping put another shot in off the hands of the Hungarian netminder to regain the two-goal advantage. Ping extended the lead to three a minute later, with an extra-man tally from the post, but Hungary would come back and close the gap to one with a pair of scores in the final minute of the third period, the second of which was Dora Kisteleki's tournament-high fifteenth goal. A score off of a drive early in the fourth period by Ma Huanhuan pushed the Chinese lead to 8-7, and Hungary's final goal was too little too, too late, as Ildiko Toth pushed in a rebound with only 26 seconds remaining, allowing the Chinese to run out the clock and seal the victory.
CHN (1,2,4,1) A. Gao 2, P. Liu 2, F. Tang 1, Ya. Sun 1, Y. Wang 1, H. Ma 1.
HUN (0,3,3,1) D. Kisteleki 2, R. Dravucz 2, G. Szucs 1, R. Keszthelyi 1, I. Toth 1.
Saves
CHN- J. Yang 10
HUN- A. Gyongossy 8
"Two years ago, China were ranked 200 in the world. Now, they are 5. I am very happy."
-Juan Jane Giralt, Head Coach, China
"For China, it is possible to play with the top teams in the world. In this tournament, we won four games and lost two, and all of the teams are very difficult. I am very, very happy today- to beat Hungary is not easy for China."
-Juan Jane Giralt, Head Coach, China
"We had very good defense, but very awful attack. We made twenty percent of the shots, maybe. We couldn't have won the game with that. China had very good tactics and a very good game."
-Matyas Petrovics, Head Coach, Hungary
Greece Downs Russia in Shootout, Takes 3rd
Greece beat Russia in a sudden-death shootout, 8-7, to take third place in the 2010 FINA Women's World League Super Finals in a battle between two previous Super Finals champions. In a defensive battle that ended tied at 5 at the end of regulation, shooters struggled in a shootout that took six attempts for each team to decide a winner. After Greece converted its first attempt, Russia missed its first three and Greece its next two. Each team scored its fourth shot, and after a Greek miss and a Russian score on the fifth attempt, the shootout headed into a sudden-death round. Greece's Stavroula Antonakou confidently sent her first attempt in the second round into the upper corner past Russian keeper Maria Kovtunovskaya, and Maria Tsouri blocked Ekaterina Prokofyeva, sealing the victory for the Greeks.
After a tight first three quarters that ended in a 3-3 tie, Kyriaki Liosi put a lob past the Russian goalie, and Triantafyllia Manolioudaki pushed in a rebound on a man-advantage opportunity to give the Greeks a 5-3 lead early in the fourth. The Russians, however, were unwilling to give up. Ekaterina Prokofyeva responded immediately with a laser from the outside, and with less than a minute remaining in regulation, Sofya Konukh netted a man-advantage goal to tie the game and send it into the first shootout of the medal round.
GRE 8 (2, 0, 1, 2, 3) A. Asimaki 2, S. Antonakou 2, K, Liosi 1, A. Roumpesi 1, T. Manolioudaki 1, V. Mavrelou 1
RUS 7 (1, 1, 1, 2, 2) S. Konukh 3, E. Prokofyeva 2, E. Ivanova 1, Y. Gaufler 1
Saves
GRE - Tsouri 9
RUS - Kovtunovskaya 10
"A lot of things were working better on defense today, but on offense, hardly anything was working right."
-Alexandr Kabanov, Head Coach, Russia
"I am very glad that the team showed enough resilience and physical strength to finish the tournament well."
-Alexandr Kabanov, Head Coach, Russia
"I was not extremely stressed and we knew we would win if there was a shootout."
-Maria Tsouri, Goalkeeper, Greece
"This was our second game with the same team that resulted in a shootout, and it was also our second time to beach them in a shootout. I think we deserve to be in the top three and get bronze in this tournament."
-Maria Tsouri, Goalkeeper Greece
"This was not a good game and not very good water polo. My team was tired so it was hard, but they found the courage to fight until the end."
-Greorgios Morfests, Head Coach, Greece
"We are very good mandown and that was key in the game and the key to winning."
-Greorgios Morfests, Head Coach, Greece
"Maria and the USA goalie [Betsey Armstrong] are the two best goalies in this tournament."
-Greorgios Morfests, Head Coach, Greece
USA Edges Australia in Shootout, Wins 2010 FINA World League Super Final
Maggie Steffens converted the final attempt in the shootout round to clinch the FINA World League Super Final Championship for the United States in dramatic fashion, 12-11. Steffens, a rising high school senior and the youngest player on the American roster, put the Australians away for good when she put one past Victoria Brown with the score level at 4-4 in the shootout round, after Betsey Armstrong blocked Jemma Dessauvagie, the fourth shooter for Australia. Each team converted the first three attempts in the shootout round.
With the United States holding a slim 5-4 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Australian Bronwyn Knox scored a man-advantage opportunity to level the score at 5. After Heather Petri added a man-advantage score of her own to hand the lead back over to the Americans, Glencora Ralph put one past Armstrong on the 6-on-5 to level the score once again. With only two minutes remaining, Sophie Smith sent a laser into the goal past Armstrong to give the Aussies their first lead of the game. The Americans, however, leveled the score on the next possession when Tanya Gandy sent a shot directly over the head of Australian keeper Victoria Brown and into the back of the net, sending the game into a shootout, the second between these two teams in this year's Super Final.
Team USA got off to a good start with an early score by Kami Craig on the man-advantage. After Australia leveled on the next possession, the Americans scored two straight- an outside shot by Lauren Silver, and a penalty shot converted by Kelly Rulon- to open up a 3-1 lead early in the second quarter. After Bronwyn Knox skipped one past Armstrong to cut the Australian deficit to one, Elsie Windes took advantage of the Australian's zone defense to regain a two goal advantage for Team USA at halftime. Knox put in her second tally of the game from center early in the third period, but Lauren Silver shot a laser off the bar and into the back of the net to make the score 5-3. Glencora Ralph would add one more in the third to cut the American lead to one heading into the fourth quarter.
USA (2,2,1,2,5) L. Silver 3, K. Rulon 2, H. Petri 1, L. Wenger 1, T. Gandy 1, M. Steffens 1, E. Windes 1, K. Craig 1, M. Seidemann 1.
AUS (1,1,2,3,4) B. Knox 4, G. Ralph 2, G. Beadsworth 2, S. Smith 1, A. Brightwell 1, R. Webster 1.
Saves
USA- Armstrong 9
AUS- Brown 11
"I almost feel like there are no nerves [in a shootout]. Everyone played their heart out for 32 minutes, and then you just do the best you can."
-Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA
"All of our shooters were clutch today. To make all five, I didn't think that would happen. Especially after watching the third place game, where there were a lot of missed penalty shots, and we looked so tired by the end of that game, I was surprised that we made all five."
-Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA
"[Maggie] has no fear. She's a great competitor; she's just going to leave it all out there and I felt very confident with her out there and putting her last, and she'll remember this for a very long time."
-Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA
"I'm very happy with the group. I think they've come a long way. But, at the same time, we have a long way to go. Our fitness level isn't where it needs to be; we've only been training for four weeks, and I look forward to the next three or four weeks of training here at home before we head off to Australia and New Zealand. I think we'll get even better over that time."
-Adam Krikorian, Head Coach, USA
"We had our chances. Once we got one ahead, the girls just didn't respond well to the high pressure situation."
-Greg McFadden, Head Coach, Australia
"It's disappointing to lose in a penalty shootout. I'd rather see some other form of deciding. It's a team, not an individual game."
-Greg McFadden, Head Coach, Australia
"Our strength was our character. We kept grinding away and the girls showed lots of heart and we're very pleased with where we are at present."
-Greg McFadden, Head Coach, Australia
All Tournament Team
Field:
Lefu Van Belkum (NED)
Gabriella Szucs (HUN)
Sofya Konukh (RUS)
Bronwen Knox (AUS)
Angeliki Gerolymou (GRE)
Brenda Villa (USA)
Gemma Beadsworth (AUS)
Center:
Kami Craig (USA)
Goalkeeper:
Betsey Armstrong (USA)
Individual Awards
Top Goalkeeper:
Betsey Armstrong (USA)
Top Scorer:
Dora Kisteleki (HUN)
MVP:
Brenda Villa (USA)