Women’s Water Polo: U.S. plays Italy for gold
A gold medal was on the line the first time the United States played Italy this year in women’s water polo.
The teams met in March in the gold-medal match of the Olympic qualification tournament, Team USA claiming an 11-6 victory in the Netherlands. The game was a bit anticlimactic, as the teams had both already qualified for the Olympics before the opening sprint.
The gold medal the teams are trying to earn Friday has much more significance, as Team USA again plays Italy for the Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The championship game starts at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time and will be streamed live at NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Sports app. It will be shown on delay on NBC at 2:30 p.m.
Team USA, the defending Olympic champion and top-ranked team in the world, is the definite favorite heading into the gold-medal match. The U.S. has outscored its five opponents so far by a combined margin of 61-27, including Wednesday’s 14-10 semifinal victory over Hungary.
Team captain Maggie Steffens, a Newport Beach resident, leads Team USA with 16 goals in the tournament, and former Corona del Mar High star Maddie Musselman is second with 11 goals. Kaleigh Gilchrist, the ex-Newport Harbor High and USC standout, has six goals.
Team USA has won 21 games in a row overall since a loss to Australia at the Kunshan Cup in China on May 31. The U.S. came back to beat Australia in the finals of that tournament, one of four the team has won in 2016, also including the FINA World League Super Final.
Italy, meanwhile, is also undefeated in the Olympics after Wednesday’s 12-9 semifinal victory over Russia. The Italy defense, led by team captain Tania Di Mario, has also been stout, giving up just 31 goals in the team’s five games.
U.S. Coach Adam Krikorian knows that Italy also comes into the gold-medal match with momentum.
“Besides us they have obviously been the hottest team in this tournament,” Krikorian said in a release from USA Water Polo. “I watched a little bit of their semifinal and I saw how well they were shooting the ball from the outside. Their defense has been really good, and their goalie [Giulia Gorlero] is playing fantastic. It’s going to be a heck of a battle and we are going to have our hands full. No doubt about that.”
Arianna Garibotti led Italy in the semifinal win over Russia with five goals on just six shots. Teammate Roberta Bianconi added two goals, both scores coming on penalty shots.
Italy won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics but finished just sixth in 2008 and seventh in 2012. This will be Italy’s second appearance in the gold-medal match.
Steffens, the 2012 Olympics MVP, is trying to collect her second gold medal for Team USA. This is the first Olympics for Gilchrist and Musselman.
