RIVERSIDE, CA. At 7 p.m. (PST) Saturday night in the Riverside Aquatics Complex at Riverside City College, the USA Women’s National Water Polo Team will face the Greek National Team in the first of four friendly matches to be played in various Southern California locations.
The other dates and times are: Monday, July 1; 7 p.m. (PST) at Newport Harbor High School in Newport Beach; Thursday, July 4; 5 p.m. (PST) at the SODA Aquatic Center in Moraga; and Saturday, July 6; 7 p.m. (PST) at University of the Pacific’s Chris Kjeldsen Pool in Stockton.
The U.S. women, coached by Adam Krikorian, are riding a 43-match win streak and have captured eleven-straight major tournaments, including Olympic gold at the London Games in 2012 and the Rio Games in 2016. The Americans’ most recent tournament win—earlier this month when they took first in the 2019 FINA World League Super Final—booked them for a shot at a third consecutive gold in 2020 at the Tokyo Games.
[US Women’s Water Polo Team on Cusp Of Qualifying for 2020 Tokyo Olympics]
Besides the great Hungarian squads earlier this century, who captured gold in 2000 at the Sydney Games, in 2004 in Athens and at the 2008 Games in Beijing, no other men’s or women’s water polo squads have won three straight Olympics.
All is calm now for Team USA’s Adam Krikorian, but there’s much to be done before Tokyo in 2020. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne
Qualifying for the sport’s top tournament takes considerable pressure off of Krikorian’s squad. These series of friendlies is against a Greek squad that did not advance to the final eight for this year’s Super Final but did place second last year in the European Water Polo Championship. It has been 15 years since Greece, coached by Georgios Morfesis, has qualified for an Olympic Games; they hosted the 2004 Athens Games and captured a silver medal. The U.S. finished third.
Times have changed since then. The Greeks have not beaten the Americans in more than eight years—that last loss coming in June of 2011 in group play at the FINA World League Super Final. Nine members of the squad that represented Greece at the 2018 European Championships—where they dropped the final to the Netherlands—will be in California this week. Of note for Greece are captain Alkisti Avramidou, a top performer for Olympiacos, the country’s leading professional club, and Alexandra Asimaki, who netted 18 goals for her country in the European Water Polo Championships. Unavailable due to injury is Elisavet Protopapas, a junior with University of California at Berkeley and top goalie Chrysi Diamantopoulou.
These contests are perhaps most valuable to Morfesis and his squad as they prepare for the 18th FINA World Championships next month in Gwangju, South Korea. The top finisher at Worlds will claim one of 10 women’s spots for Tokyo. The host Japanese and the Americans have already claimed two berths. For Greece, a win in Gwangju would allow them to avoid pressure-packed qualifiers in 2020, including the European Championships in January and a World Qualification Tournament next March, a mere five months prior to the Olympics.
For the U.S., nine Olympians will be part of Krikorian’s 17-player roster. Notable members include team captain Maggie Steffens, goalie Ashleigh Johnson, Maddie Musselman, who as a 19-year-old was second behind Steffens top mark of 17 goals, tallying 12 scored in six matches during the Rio Olympics. Also part of the squad are: Jamie and Kiley Neushul and Rachel Fattal, who like Musselman, Johnson, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann, Aria and Mackenzie Fischer, and Kaleigh Gilchrist are seeking a second Olympic gold in 2020. Steffens and Seidemann are on quest for their third, which would put them in the company of Tibor Benedek, Péter Biros, Tamás Kásás, Tamás Molnár and Zoltán Szécsi of those great Hungarian teams from the turn of the century.
Paige Hauschild—defending against Spain—is fighting for an Olympic spot. Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
One challenge for Krikorian is to determine who will make the final cuts for the 2020 squad, whose number has been reduced from 13 to 11 by decree of the International Olympic Committee. Fighting to qualify for their first-ever Games are Brigitta Games, Paige Hauschild, Amanda Longan, Jamie Neushul, Jordan Raney, Stephania Haralabidis, Gabby Stone and Alys Williams. The IOC will allow for 13 athletes on the full Tokyo rosters, with 11 dressing for each match.
Even though this is a “friendly” series, there’s typically nothing congenial about the sport, and both squads have a lot to play for over the next week.
2019 Women’s National Team Roster – Greece Exhibition Series (active roster announced prior to each match)
Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC)
Amanda Longan (Moorpark, CA/USC/Santa Barbara 805)
Gabby Stone (La Jolla, CA/Stanford/San Diego Shores)
Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET)
Brigitta Games (Littleton, CO/USC/NYAC)
Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET)
Paige Hauschild (Santa Barbara, CA/USC/Santa Barbara 805)
Alys Williams (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Huntington Beach WPF)
Jordan Raney (Manhattan Beach, CA/Stanford/Huntington Beach WPF)
Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL)
Jamie Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
Kiley Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/CdM Aquatics)
Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC)
Stephania Haralabidis (Athens, Greece/USC/NYAC)
Kaleigh Gilchrist (Newport Beach, CA/USC/NYAC)
Staff
Head Coach: Adam Krikorian
Asst. Coach – Dan Klatt
Asst. Coach – Chris Oeding
Sports Medicine Manager – Larnie Boquiren
Team Manager – Liz Grimes
2019 Greece National Team – USA Exhibition Series
1 Ioanna Stamatopoulou
2 Christina Chrysoula Tsoukala
3 Alkistis Christina Benekou
4 Enikoleta Eleftheriadou
5 Christina Kotsia
6 Alkisti Avramidou
7 Alexandra Asimaki
8 Ioanna Chydirioti
9 Maria Patra
10 Eirini Ninou
11 Eleftheria Plevritou
12 Eleni Xenaki
13 Marina kotsioni
Staff
Georgios Morfesis -Head Coach
Stefanos Leandros – Team Staff
Angeliki Gerolymou – Asst. Coach
Efthymia Voulgari – Physio
Antonios Aronis – Team Manager