tokyo olympics

Team USA Women's Water Polo Beats ROC to Advance to Gold Medal Match

The nervy back-and-forth game stayed close until the U.S. took over at the end of the game

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

The U.S. women’s water polo team rallied from a three-point deficit to trounce the Russian Olympic Committee in a 15-11 victory. 

With that win, Team USA moves to the gold-medal match and will face either Spain or Hungary, who face each other in the second semifinal at 6:50 a.m. ET. 

The U.S., gold medalists in London 2012 and Rio 2016, were on the verge of crashing out before the final until a late push helped them over the line. With just over five minutes left, Aria Fischer put the U.S. ahead 12-11. From there, Alys Williams and Madeline Musselman ensured the win with 3 points between them.

The win was partly thanks to three points from captain Maggie Steffens. Steffens is the all-time leading Olympic scorer in the sport. 

The US fell to Hungary in the preliminary rounds 10-9, ending an unbeaten run of 12 Olympic games.

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