U.S. women's water polo ready for 'whole new tournament' in quarterfinals

USA water polo - Credit: USA Today

USA water polo – Credit: USA Today

The U.S. women’s water polo team finished pool play on Friday with a decisive 17-5 victory over France.

It was the third time in the Paris Games the women have won by at least seven goals, the largest margin of victory of any game, and the most goals scored by single team this Olympics. Since falling to Spain in Game 2, the Americans are rolling as they now look towards the tournament quarterfinals.

SEE MORE: U.S. women’s water polo clinches spot in quarterfinals with win over France

Quotes

Steffens called the quarterfinals of the Olympics “a whole new tournament.”

“It’s kind of crazy. If you think about the Olympics, you start in one tournament with bracket play, and then it’s do-or-die, no matter what,” Steffens added. “The woman’s competition is just so, so competitive. Everyone is good. It doesn’t matter how many Olympics you’ve been to, everyone is a top competitor and everybody is somebody that you respect and need to bring your best game.”

“It’s intense,” U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said of the knockouts. “It’s high-level water polo and tensions are high. There’s going to be some anxiety that comes with it. But that’s the case for every single person… In some ways, it’s going to be the team that’s able to handle those nerves and that anxiety and make the fewest number of mistakes that’s going to go out and have success.”

Steffens said that, despite playing as the best team in Paris both offensively and defensively, there is still room for improvement on her squad. They’ll take this weekend to work to relax and work on those improvements.

“That’s something we’ve always talked about as Team USA, you’ve got to keep growing, you’re not done yet. We’re not the finished product,” she added. “Now we’ve got some time to reflect and make sure that come the next game, we’re the best we can be.”

When the U.S. returns for the quarterfinals, they’ll play in Paris’s La Defense Arena, the same stadium where they saw Taylor Swift play in May. The team went to the concert to not only get a look at the arena where they hoped to play water polo, but also to learn from Swift about how to be confident in whatever they’re doing.

“I hope we can exude her energy and her ability to portray her passion and purpose in front of that many fans and under that pressure, and just enjoy the moment,” Steffens said of Swift. “That’s what we want to do. We want to go out there and show our passion, show our purpose, show who we are as a team, and try to enjoy the moment as much as we can.”

Team stats

The U.S. is tied for third in the field in goals allowed with 27, but the other teams who have allowed fewer have all only played three games. Defensively, the Americans are allowing a tournament-best 6.75 goals per game.

Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson made 41 saves in four pool play games, and is the only goalie in the tournament averaging better than 10 saves per game.

Offensively, the U.S. also leads the tournament in scoring average, putting through 13.25 goals per game. The Netherlands is second at 13 scores per contest, just better than Spain at 12.6. The only other team averaging double-digits is Australia at 10.6 per game.

Individual leaders

The U.S. took 13 players to Paris, and nine of them have scored at least three goals so far. Team USA has more multi-goal scorers than any other team in the field.

Jenna Flynn leads the team with six goals, tied for the second most of any player in Paris. She’s followed by Maddie Musselman with five. Tara Prentice, Rachel Fattal, Maggie Steffens, Jordan Raney, Jewel Roemer, Kaleigh Gilchrist, and Jovana Sekulic all have three goals each.

Steffens, the team captain playing in her fourth Olympics, came to Paris as the all-time leading scorer in Olympic women’s water polo. She’s extended to record to now 61 goals.