LIMA, PERU. On a day when the USA women’s water polo team captured its 58th-straight victory, it was Canadians who wept tears of joy at their regional rival’s 31-7 semifinal win over Cuba. That’s because both will meet in Saturday’s finals of the 2019 Pan American Games and—with the U.S. having already qualified for the 2020 Olympics—whoever joined the Americans in the final would also be booked for the Tokyo Games.
That will be Canada by virtue of a 19-5 victory over Brazil in Friday’s earlier semifinal at the Villa Maria del Triunfo Aquatics Complex. Now both advance to the biggest tournament in the sport, no matter who wins today’s title tilt. For the Canadians, it’s their first trip to the Olympics since a seventh-place finish at the Athens Games in 2004.
Not that there was any surprise as to who the Pan American finalists would be.
[Canadians and Americans Will Meet in Both Women’s and Men’s Pan American Water Polo Final]
In an indication of just how dominant both programs have been in this tournament and in the hemisphere, in the two-decade history of women’s water polo play at the PanAms, only the Americans and the Canadians have made it to the finals. And, before four straight titles won by the U.S., in 1999, Canada won the inaugural women’s Pan American water polo title.
Now, the two will face each other for a sixth straight finals match-up, and the Canadians will look to snap two streaks; four straight title defeats and an American winning streak that is the longest on record.
Canada 19, Brazil 5
In Friday morning play, head coach David Paradelo’s squad quickly broke out to a 4-1 first period lead and were never headed in decisively beating a young Brazilian squad. Led by Axelle Crevier’s four goals on five shots as well as hat tricks by Joelle Bekhazi, Monika Eggens and Shae Fournier, the Canadians gained their fifth-straight victory here in Lima.
The win did not immediately qualify the Canadians for Tokyo; Team USA had to follow through—as expected—and beat Cuba. After his team’s win, Paradelo spoke about how much his team had committed to this effort, and how personal a victory it was for him as well as his players.
He’s has only been head coach since last April, but starting as a youngster growing up in Montreal, Paradelo has been involved with many of his players at the Canadian national women’s water polo training center in his hometown.
Canada ’s Krystina Alogbo, left, and Cuba’s Mayelin Bernal. Photo Courtesy: Cristiane Mattos / Lima 2019
He pointed out that Krystina Alogbo has been playing since she’s 9—which is 24 years ago. Bekhazi, another long-time national team player, is a year younger at 32. Many of the younger players have been playing with the national team since 2011. They’ve waited a long time for this moment—so it was not a problem to wait a bit longer for an American victory.
“It’s tough not to get emotional because we know the reality of the sport—we told the girls we couldn’t celebrate the same way as if we just won [a match] for qualification,” he said. “But at the same time, we can’t hold back emotions.”
There is still a finals match to be played and—perhaps—a score to be settled between these two programs whose history dates back to the earliest days of women’s international polo, when a handful of teams had to fight each other—and FINA—to earn a place in the Olympics.
Goalie and captain Jessica Gaudreault, who spent four years at Indiana facing many of the players on the U.S. national team, knows that it will take a supreme effort to blunt the Americans’ success.
“There’s always a big rivalry between the two of us,” she said after the match. “We’ve been beating teams by 15, 20, so [this is] the best opportunity to give them a really good game.”
USA 31, Cuba 7
After a string of games against sub-par opponents, the American got to put on their “A” game today against a Cuban side that was game but ultimately over-matched. Behind five goals by Makenzie Fischer and four apiece from Stephanie Haralabidis and Maddie Musselman, Team USA burst out to a 9-2 first-period lead then kept the Cubans at bay for the win.
[As Expected, USA Women Dominate Peru, Advance to 2019 Pan Am Semifinals against Cuba]
U.S. goalie Ashleigh Johnson scored for the third-straight day, but this time it was from her cage and not by playing the field. Taking advantage of the new rules which include traveling past mid-tank, Cuban goalie Mairelis Zunzunegui Morgan joined the attack and misfired with seconds left in the first period. It left Johnson just enough time to heave the ball the length of the pool and score, the first time in her illustrious American career that she’s accomplished this feat.
[On The Record with Boris Margeta, Renowned Referee, at the 2019 Pan American Games]
USA played tough defense against Mayelin Bernal Villa, who came into the game with 15 goals but was held scoreless until three minutes remained in the match and the score was 28-5.
There were moments of success for the Cubans against the Americans. Madonni Chávez Peña scored a hat trick, beating Johnson with high-quality shots. And, in a sign perhaps of how lax play has been in this tournament given the disparity of levels, Team USA made uncharacteristic defensive mistakes that if Cuba was able to exploit then the Canadians will as well
Captain Maggie Steffens, is one of many reasons why Team USA hasn’t lost in more than a year. Photo Courtesy: Marcos Brindicci / Lima 2019
After the match, U.S. Head Coach Adam Krikorian expressed confidence that his players would rise to the occasion of a championship match.
“The reality is, we might be a little bit rusty at times,” he said about how the tournament’s uneven competition might impact his team’s play.
Then, underscoring why the Americans remain the gold standard in the sport, Krikorian added: “This group is not just talented, they’re very experienced. They’ve played a ton of games this summer, a ton of games in their careers. Not that I’m going to encourage them to turn it off and on but, they can.
“They love a challenge.”
Johnson, USA’s all-world goalie who has now added scoring to her repertoire, was clear that fun time was over—and that beating the Canadians is always a priority.
“We know their players, we know their game—we know they want to beat us too,” she said. “Going against Canada is something that always ignites that flame in us—we always want to beat them.”
Way to go team Canada??????