PARIS – Adam Krikorian has been in the spotlight for the fourth year in a row, both at the start of the Olympics, before Thursday’s semifinal game against upstart Australia and, of course, when Maddie Musselman suddenly grabbed the ball for the winning shot. I never felt that the gold medal was the team’s destiny. -Death period.
In the women’s water polo match held at La Defense Arena, Australian goalkeeper Gabriella Palm deflected Musselman’s skip shot with her right hand and deflected it out of the goal for Australia, 14-13 (6-5 in the shootout). won against America.
Australia will face Spain in Saturday’s gold medal match, while three-time Olympic champions the United States will face the Netherlands for bronze.
“There’s definitely a certain amount of belief in this team that we’re going to get it done, but along with that belief there’s always a moderate amount of fear that we’re not going to get it done,” Krikorian said. “This is the first time ever that we have had to feel these emotions. We have dealt with adversity in different ways, but this is just a test. It’s life, it’s the reality of life. You don’t get to be on top of the podium every time.”
The United States has dominated women’s water polo for more than a decade, winning gold medals at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics (postponed by a year due to the coronavirus).
They lost to Spain in their first pool game of the tournament, and on Thursday they lost to what Krikorian simply described as “a better team.”
“The Australians were very good, very resilient, very strong mentally and defensively. Their size and length and just their goal play were big factors in today’s game.” he said.
The United States led 2-1 after the first period and 5-2 after the second thanks to a strong defensive effort and the play of goaltender Ashley Johnson, but Australia pulled away. Krikorian told his young team that “nerves were a factor” when they tied the score three times in the final two periods.
Abby Andrews scored four goals in the third period to bring Australia back to six points, and Bronte Harrigan scored the final two goals in regulation after the U.S. led 8-6 early in the fourth period. .
Both teams squandered scoring opportunities in the final minutes of regulation, sending the game to penalties. Jenna Flynn hit a shot off the post for America with 23 seconds left, and Australia turned the ball over on a bad pass with three seconds left.
“I think Australia made fewer mistakes than us, played very well and played according to plan. It’s certainly a disappointing loss for us,” said Johnson.
Both America and Australia made the first five shots of the penalty period, sending the game into sudden death.
Zoe Arancini blasted the second shot of the shootout past Johnson, and Palm tipped Musselman’s final shot wide of the frame.
“I take penalty shots all the time and sometimes it goes in and sometimes it doesn’t go in and I get up there and take the penalty and she makes a great block. We’re going to give it to them,” Musselman said.
Palm said Musselman typically takes penalty shots in the bottom left corner, but that changed for both Thursday’s shootout attempt and the penalty shot he took in the first period.
“When I touched it, I was like, ‘Flick, yeah.’ I couldn’t believe I had touched it,” she said. “And that was the whole process of showing what a save means when it’s made. It was unbelievable.”
For the Australian team, which has not lost in this Olympics, the save was proof of the program’s resurgence. Australia won the gold medal in 2000, when women’s water polo was introduced to the Olympics for the first time, but has not won a medal since 2012, when they won the bronze medal.
For the United States, the Palm block ended more than a decade of impressive domination, but it did not mark the end of an era.
Johnson looked his usual impressive form for most of the night, blocking 12 shots and holding Australia to just 2 of 7 in extra-time chances.
Musselman and 20-year-old Flynn, one of the youngest players in the tournament, both scored two goals, and 18-year-old Emily Ausmus added one goal.
Musselman said the loss was “heartbreaking in a lot of ways because I had a vision for my group, my team, and where I wanted to be,” but the U.S. He promised not to bow his head heading into Saturday’s bronze medal match.
“It’s great (to win three gold medals in a row), but it’s about this team,” Krikorian said. “We’re not going to celebrate the last three games. Who does that? I mean, we don’t want to be around people celebrating the last three championships, because we’re heartbroken there. It’s a tough loss, but we’re going to take this as adults, as classy people, and I think we’ll be better for it.We’re not always great water polo players, but we’re human beings. And as humans, we learn from it.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram. @Dave Burkett.
