USA Women Defeat Argentina 20-0 To Open Pan American Games
10/23/2011 12:00:00 AM
Guadalajara, Mexico - October 23 - The USA Water Polo Women's National Team got off to a strong start at the 2011 Pan American Games topping a late arriving Argentina team 20-0 to open the water polo competition at the Scotiabank Aquatics Center. Nine different players found the net led including four goals from center Annika Dries (Laguna Beach, Calif./Stanford/SET) in an outcome that was never in doubt despite the delayed start time. Argentina arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled start of the match and after a brief warmup found themselves trailing 1-0 just 38 seconds into game thanks to a Brenda Villa (Commerce, Calif./Stanford/Olympic Club) score, her first of three on the morning. That ignited a cavalcade of offense that saw Team USA lead 4-0 after the first quarter, 10-0 at halftime, and 13-0 after three quarters.
Other scorers for the United States included Kami Craig (Santa Barbara, Calif./USC/Santa Barbara WPF), Kelly Rulon (San Diego, Calif./UCLA/NYAC), Maggie Steffens (Danville, Calif./Stanford/Diablo), Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, Calif./Stanford/Stanford), Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, Calif./USC/NYAC), and Heather Petri (Orinda, Calif./California/NYAC) all with two goals while Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, Calif./UCLA/NYAC) added a score of her own. Craig also added three drawn five meter penalties.
Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Michigan/NYAC) and Tumua Anae (Newport Beach, Calif./USC/SoCal) combined in the cage for 10 stops. The United States went 4/5 on power plays and converted all three penalty shot opportunities while holding Argentina to 0-5 on player advantages. Team USA continues group play on Monday with a 12:15pm match against Puerto Rico.
Notes: Team USA are the defending Gold Medalists at the Pan American Games...The winner of the Pan American Games earns a berth to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.
Scoring
USA 20 (4, 6, 3, 7) A. Dries 4, B. Villa 3, H. Petri 2, M. Seidemann 2, L. Wenger 2, M. Steffens 2, K. Rulon 2, K. Craig 2, C. Mathewson 1
ARG 0 (0, 0, 0, 0)
Saves - USA - T. Anae 6, B. Armstrong 4
6x5 - USA - 4/5 - ARG - 0-5
Penalties - USA - 3-3 - ARG - 0-0
Flash Quotes
"We had the first game, it was an early game, but you could tell, six o'clock in the morning on the bus ride over we were full of energy, pumping the music and focused. We were ready to go, we know how we want to play and how we want to act in these games and we just came out with alot of energy and it is a great way to start the tournament, we just wanted to get things rolling." Kami Craig, USA Center.
"We've been really anxious, we've been anxious to play some live games and they were excited today and maybe a little too excited in the first quarter, we didn't take care of the ball that well, maybe a little nervous. That's what the first games are for and after that I thought we settled down and did a really nice job." Adam Krikorian, USA Head Coach
"We've talked alot about respect and respecting your opponent. Every single team here is out for one thing, and every single team here is very feisty and very competitive. We talked about respect of the opponent and respect of the game. this game is very difficult to play and if you don't play it at your highest level some of these games could be really, really tough games for us." Adam Krikorian, USA Head Coach
Women's National Team