NANTERRE, France (AP) — Ashleigh Johnson made 17 saves and Rachel Fattal snapped a tie in the fourth quarter, helping the U.S. women’s water polo team edge Hungary 5-4 in a physical quarterfinal at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday night.
U.S. captain Maggie Steffens scored two goals and played terrific defense on Hungary center Rebecca Parkes down the stretch. The 31-year-old Steffens played the entire game.
“We wanted it and so did Hungary,” Johnson said. “We knew it was going to be a grind. … The score reflects what a battle it was.”
The U.S. is going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal. No team — men or women — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics.
Next up for the U.S. is Australia, which advanced with a 9-6 win over Greece. Spain faces Netherlands in the other semifinal on Thursday at Paris La Defense Arena.
Spain rolled over Canada for an 18-8 victory, and the Netherlands beat Italy 11-8 in the second quarterfinal.
Hungary pushed the U.S. all the way to the end in another close matchup. Hungary beat the U.S. 10-9 in group play during the Tokyo Games, and it also handed the Americans a 10-8 loss on July 9. The U.S. topped Hungary 8-7 for gold at the world championships in Qatar in February.
The matchup at the Paris Games was tied at 4 going into the fourth period. Fattal then put the U.S. ahead to stay with a perfectly slotted shot during a 6-on-4 power play with 3:02 left.
Hungary had a couple chances to tie it up in the final minutes, but the U.S. used Johnson and its tough defense to hold on.
“It was a really hard-fought game,” Fattal said. “We knew that it was going to be a really tough game, and that it was going to be a grind, and we just had to keep going the whole time.”
Hungary finished with 31 shots, compared with 22 for the United States. Rita Keszthelyi, Krisztina Garda, Kamilla Farago and Dora Leimeter scored for Hungary.
“It’s a huge disappointment, especially because we showed a solid level,” Hungary’s Geraldine Mahieu said. “We were lacking a bit in attack. We can still be very proud of what we have achieved.”
U.S. star Maddie Musselman was held scoreless. She was credited with three shots.
Spain, which lost to the U.S. in the Tokyo final, improved to 5-0 at the Olympics. It has outscored its opponents 69-44 so far.
Elena Ruiz scored four times in the quarterfinal win, and Bea Ortiz continued her strong tournament with three more goals. Martina Terre made 12 saves.
Anni Espar Llaquet sparked a 4-0 run for Spain when she scored with 4:58 left in the first quarter. Ortiz’s goal made it 6-1 in the final seconds of the period.
“We knew if we gave Canada a chance they would be in the game, so we had to start very strong and be confident with our game,” Espar Llaquet said.
Verica Bakoc scored five goals for Canada on five shots. Canada dropped to 1-4 heading into a classification game on Thursday.
“We play a little sport in a big country (and) there’s not enough people playing,” Axelle Crevier of Canada said. “I feel proud to compete against nations like Spain who have many water polo players.”
The Netherlands earned its fourth win of the Olympics. Its only loss came in a penalty shootout against Australia.
Simone van de Kraats, Brigitte Sleeking, Vivian Sevenich and Lieke Rogge each scored two goals on Tuesday.
“We are really pushing each other to a higher level,” Sevenich said. “I think that showed today, and we’re not done yet.”
The Netherlands carried a 6-5 lead into the fourth quarter. Sevenich and Rogge then scored to make it 8-5 with 5:35 to go.
Van de Kraats helped close it out when she made it 11-7 with 1:03 left.
Claudia Marletta scored three goals for Italy. Dafne Bettini and Valeria Palmieri each had two.
Australia was led by Alice Williams, who had five goals on seven shots. Bronte Halligan, who played the entire game, and Abby Andrews each scored twice.
Gabi Palm made 13 saves on 19 shots, helping Australia stay undefeated at the Games.
Greece’s Eleni Xenaki trimmed Australia’s lead to 8-6 with 1:16 left, but Williams responded with a power-play goal with 38 seconds to go.
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