Gold Rush: Team USA Downs Australia 9-8 to Advance to Women's Olympic Gold Medal Game

Betsey Armstrong

BEIJING, China -- 2008 Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame inductee Betsey Armstrong made eight saves and Brenda Villa scored three goals late including the winner with one minute remaining to defeat Australia 9-8 and advance the U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team to to the Gold Medal game for the first time since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Team USA will battle the Netherlands for the Gold on Thursday, August 21 at 6:20pm local time in Beijing, while Australia will play in the Bronze Medal Game.

A showdown between former Michigan standout goalie Armstrong and powerhouse scorer and former Hartwick College star Bronwen Knox, the victory over Australia at the Ying Tung Natatorium also assures the USA women's team of medaling for the third consecutive Olympics, something no other women's team has accomplished. In addition they join some select company in the sport as only six countries on the men's side have won three consecutive medals at the Olympics.

The game was a nailbiter which went down to the final seconds.

Australia started the scoring first with a goal three minutes into the game but Team USA answered immediately as less than thirty seconds later Natalie Golda took a feed from Villa to tie the score at 1-1. Australia's Melissa Rippon skipped one in at the four minute mark of the first to give Australia back the lead at 2-1. This was short lived because Brittany Hayes answered for the Americans with a lob shot tally at 2:23 remaining to tie the score at 2-2.

It was tied at two goals apiece to start the second quarter. Two minutes into the quarter center Moriah van Norman drew a five meter penalty which was cashed in by Villa and Team USA had their first lead of the game at 3-2. At the 3:39 mark in the quarter the United States went for more as Jessica Steffens cleaned up a missed Elsie Windes shot and put home the rebound for a 4-2 advantage. Australia would quickly rally scoring back to back goals to tie the game at 4-4 with 2:36 remaining in the half.

The game remained tied into the halftime and just over a minute into the third quarter Team USA grabbed the lead back when Kami Craig got loose inside for a score to go up 5-4. Some two minutes later Alison Gregorka  helped build the advantage with a tally and it was 6-4 USA. An Australia exclusion led to another USA goal, this time by Villa and it was 7-4 and USA was in control. Even with Australia scoring on a player advantage at the 1:39 mark in the third, the United States countered right away with Hayes scoring on a power play to go back up three at 8-5 headed to the fourth.

Despite the three goal lead this one was far from over. Gemma Beadsworth found the net for Australia to draw within two at 8-6, then Aussie goalie Alicia McCormack halted a Golda five meter penalty shot. Using that momentum the Aussies came down the other end and scored again closing to within 8-7. Four minutes would pass as the game entered the final stages and Australia tied the game on a player advantage with 2:27 remaining thanks to Kate Gynther. The United States would strike last however as they drew an exclusion and with one minute remaining. Villa, the team captain put the cap on the game with a beautiful skip shot that navigated its way into the net past multiple arms for a 9-8 lead. The defense locked down the rest of the way and it was on to the Gold Medal game for the United States.

The game continued a streak of competition for the two programs as Australia and the United States have met in every Olympic Games thus far containing women's water polo. In 2000 in Sydney, they met for the Gold Medal in an Australia victory, and for the Bronze at the 2004 Games in Athens, a United States triumph.

In one of the most evenly matched international series this year, the United States, which continued its streak of having reached the medal round in every major tournament since the 2000 Olympics, evened its record against the Australia this year at 5-5-2.

Most recently the two squads met for a four game set in Southern and Northern California between July 4 and July 10. The United States claimed a victory 13-12 on July 4 in Los Alamitos, CA. Australia was victorious on a last second penalty goal 12-11 on July 6 in La Jolla, CA. Team USA came back with a 12-6 victory on July 8 in Coronado, CA. Finally in their last and most recent match the United States were victorious 7-5 at a sold-out Stanford University on July 10 in Stanford, CA.

Prior to that series the two met at the FINA World League Super Final in Spain where the United States defeated Australia for the first time in 2008 with a score of 10-9. Before that the two teams played in Beijing in March at the Good Luck Beijing Water Polo Open with Australia claiming a 7-6 victory. Finally, to start off 2008 the two teams gathered in January in Australia for common training and a five game set which the Australians either won or tied in every match. The two teams tied 8-8 on January 9 in Perth, Australia and then Australia won 13-11 on January 10 in Perth. Australia won again 10-8 on January 12 in Sydney, the two teams played to a 6-6 draw in Sydney on January 14, and then Australia defeated the United States 11-9 in Sydney on January 15 in Sydney.

Also of note the two teams met to decide the Gold Medal at the 2007 FINA World League Super Final in July in Montreal and the 2007 FINA World Championships in March in Melbourne, both victories for the United States.

Scoring:
USA: B. Villa 3, B. Hayes 2, K. Craig 1, A. Gregorka 1, J. Steffens 1, N. Golda 1
AUSTRALIA: K. Gynther 3, R. Rippon 2, G. Beadsworth 1, B. Knox 1, M. Santoromito 1

Saves - USA - B. Armstrong 8; AUSTRALIA - A. McCormack 15

6x5 - USA - 4/7 ; AUSTRALIA -  2/8

Portions of release courtesy USA Water Polo