Laguna Beach Women's Water Polo Players Fought Hard In Loss To Aussies

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — The Huntington Beach-based U.S. women's water polo team's 27-game winning streak ended Sunday with a 10-7 loss to Australia in the final of the FINA Women's Intercontinental Tournament at UC Davis.

The U.S. tied the score with three minutes, four seconds to play on Olympic gold medalist Aria Fischer's second goal, but Australia scored three times in the final 1:47 for the victory, one day after it lost to the U.S., 9- 7, in a shootout to complete the round-robin portion of the six-team tournament.

The U.S. never led Sunday, allowing the first three goals, all by Elle Armit, and trailing 2-0 at the end of the first quarter, 3-2 at halftime and 6- 3 entering the fourth quarter.

The U.S. cut the deficit to 6-5 with 6:30 left on goals by Paige Hauschild and Jewel Roemer, but Australia regained a two-goal lead 25 seconds later on Hannah Buckling's goal.

The U.S. again pulled with a goal when Hauschild scored with 4:50 remaining on the power-play, off an assist by Fischer, a senior at Laguna Beach High School.

The U.S. led in shots, 29-23, scored on three of its eight power-play opportunities and made one of two penalty shots. Australia scored on one of its five power-plays and made its only penalty shot.

U.S. goalkeeper Georgia Phillips, a junior at Clovis North High School in Fresno, made four saves and one steal. Australian goalkeeper Lilian Hedges made nine saves and one steal.

With several players with national team experience unavailable for the tournament because it conflicted with the NCAA women's water polo season, the U.S. fielded a 13-player team for its first competition of 2017 that included 11 players in high school, three from Orange County.

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