2023 World Aquatics Women's World Cup Day 2 Recap

Long Beach, CA - June 24 - Day 2 of the 2023 World Aquatics Women's World Cup takes place Saturday, June 24 at Long Beach City College!

1st-4th Place Semifinal: United States 16, Hungary 10

Team USA outlasted Hungary in the first semifinal at Long Beach City College and advance to the Gold Medal match tomorrow night. Maddie Musselman and Jenna Flynn both notched hat tricks in the win while Ashleigh Johnson recorded fifteen saves in net.

The scoring started quickly for both sides in this one. First, it was Player of the Game Emily Ausmus converting on a player advantage for the United States. Krisztina Garda answered immediately for Hungary to tie the score before Ausmus and Musselman put home two more. From there, Kamilla Farago and Greta Gurisatti (2) closed the quarter with three straight to give the Hungarians a 4-3 lead after one. The captain Rita Keszthelyi opened the second with an action shot goal but Rachel Fattal responded from six meters to cut the deficit in half. Later in the half, Musselman buried a penalty shot and Natasa Rybanska fired one home on a 6-on-5. In the last eighty seconds, Team USA found two goals from Ryann Neushul and Jewel Roemer to retake the lead at halftime, 7-6.

Garda opened the second half with a game-tying score thirty seconds into the third period. Musselman had the Americans' answer twenty seconds later before a scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes. The drought led to a flurry of goals as Roemer, Kata Hajdu, and Kaleigh Gilchrist traded scores. On the Hungarians last possession of the quarter, they brought goalkeeper Alda Magyari up onto offense in an attempt to score late. Keszthelyi's shot was denied by Johnson, who then lofted the ball the full length of the pool into the opposing net for an 11-8 lead. In the final frame, Team USA began to pull away. Jenna Flynn notched a fourth quarter hat trick while Tara Prentice and Neushul added two to offset a pair of goals from Garda on the way to the 16-10 win.

1st-4th Place Semifinal: Netherlands 12, Spain 8

The Netherlands bested Spain in the second semifinal at Long Beach City College to move on to the Gold Medal match against Team USA tomorrow night. The Dutch got four goals from Lieke Rogge and nine saves from Laura Aarts in net during the contest.

5th-8th Place Semifinal: Greece 22, Israel 11

Greece came to play to begin day two at Long Beach City College, soundly defeating Israel to secure a spot to play for fifth place tomorrow. The Greeks were led by Eirini Ninou, who scored four times in the contest, while Ioanna Stamatopoulou and Chrysoula Diamantopoulou combined for three saves in the cage.

5th-8th Place Semifinal: Italy 17, New Zealand 7

The Italians picked up the win over New Zealand on day two at Long Beach City College and will play Greece for fifth place on Sunday. Silvia Avegno went 6/6 from the field for Italy while Giuseppina Aurora Condorelli notched eighteen saves in net during the victory.