USA Women’s Water Polo Stunned by Netherlands 11-10 in Bronze Medal Match
Santa Barbara Native Ryann Neushul Scored two Goals in Defeat
For the first time since women’s water polo was introduced to the Summer Olympics in 2000, the Team U.S.A. will go home without a medal.
Netherlands stunned the Americans in the Paris bronze-medal match early Saturday, erasing a three-goal deficit in the final four minutes and winning on a goal by Sabrina van der Sloot with one second remaining, 11-10.
It was the second heartbreaking loss in two days for the U.S. women, who suffered a 14-13 defeat by Australia in the semifinals, decided by a penalty shootout.
In six previous Olympics, the Americans’ medal haul was three golds, two silvers and a bronze. They came to Paris hoping to win their fourth consecutive championship.
Santa Barbara’s Ryann Neushul, whose sisters Kiley and Jamie had each earned gold medals, was a standout in Saturday’s game. The first-time Olympian came off the bench and scored two goals, sharing team-high honors with veteran Maddie Musselman. Her skip shot to the far post late in the second quarter gave the U.S.A. a 7-3 halftime lead.
Neushul took a penalty shot at the end of the third quarter that could have maintained the four-goal lead, but Dutch goalie Laura Aarts made the save. The score was 9-6 entering the final period.
Van der Sloot, who scored seven times for the Netherlands, made a penalty shot to cut the margin to two goals, but Jenna Flynn upped the score to 10-7 on a power-play goal.
The Dutch, dangerous on counterattacks, scored three goals in less than three minutes to tie the score 10-10 with 1:19 to play.
U.S.A. took possession with 40 seconds to play on a steal by goalie Ashleigh Johnson, but Flynn’s attempt to break the tie was saved by Aarts with nine seconds on the clock. After a time-out, the Dutch brought their goalie up to play 7-on-6, and van der Sloot threaded a perimeter shot through the defense for the winning goal.
VOLLEYBALL FINAL: After the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics is televised from 12-3 p.m. Sunday, NBC will televise a replay of the early morning gold-medal women’s volleyball match between the U.S.A. and Italy.