BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) student-athletes Shae (Fournier) La Roche (Indiana University), Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton University), Bronwen Knox (Hartwick College), Amy Ridge (University of Michigan) and Abby Andrews (University of Michigan) factored to help the United States turn back ROC (Russian Olympic Committee), 15-11, to help the Americans reach the Gold Medal game, while Australia outlasted Canada 14-12 in a shootout to earn a spot in the Fifth Place game at the 2020/2021 Olympics in Tokyo on Thursday, August 5.
Statistics from the Olympic Games competition at the Tatsumi Water Polo Centre are available by CLICKING HERE.
USA 15, ROC 11 (Ashleigh Johnson)
The golden Tiger of the Olympics will once again prowl the Gold Medal game as United States goalie/former Princeton University star Ashleigh Johnson stopped eight-of-19 shots as Team USA overcame ROC (Russian Olympic Committee), 15-11, in the semifinals of the Olympics at the Tatsumi Water Polo Centre in Tokyo.
Johnson – who anchored the United States to Olympic Gold Medal glory in 2016 – will join her teammates in seeking the United States’ third consecutive women’s Olympic Championship on Saturday, August 7, as the Americans face Spain at 4:30 p.m. local time.
In other action on Thursday, August 5, Spain topped Hungary 8-6, while the Netherlands downed China, 13-6, and Australia managed Canada, 14-12 shootout, to set the remainder of the final day field.
The results establish the remainder of the final day docket as China faces Canada in the Eighth Place game (9:30 a.m. local), the Netherlands takes on Australia in the Fifth Place game (11:00 a.m. local time) and Hungary squares off with ROC in the Bronze Medal game (1:40 p.m. local time) prior to the USA-Spain Gold Medal tilt.
Johnson – who came into the ROC game after playing the first three quarters and stopping 14-of-17 shots – including 12-of-13 action shots and two-of-four man-up bids – with three goals allowed during a 16-5 quarterfinal win over Canada on August 3 – needed to keep the United States in the contest throughout much of the first half.
The Americans fell behind 1-0 at 7;11 of the first quarter, but rallied back to acquire a 2-1 lead with 5:43 on the clock. However, back-to-back ROC goals at 4:45 and 3:03 put Team USA in a 3-2 hole by the conclusion of the first quarter.
The margin continued to grow in the second quarter as back-to-back ROC goals at 4:24 and 3;24 put the Americans in a significant 5-2 hole with the clock winding down to halftime.
The United States summoned its spirit over the remainder of the first half with some fireworks as goals at 3:14, 1:09, 48 seconds, 39 seconds and one second helped the Americans close to within 7-6 by halftime.
From there, the United States tied the score at seven-all via a strike by Maggie Steffens (7:19). Following a ROC goal at 6;46 to regain the lead at 8-7, Makenzie Fischer (6:22), Maddie Musselman (5:19) and Steffens (4:28) went back-to-back-to-back to put the United States ahead 10-8.
ROC cut its deficit to 10-9 at 4:01 prior to Musselman pounding in an extra-man strike at 1:01 to stake the United States to an 11-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
However, ROC rallied back with man-up markers 6:29 and 5:30 to knot the score at 11-all.
Aria Fischer turned the tide back in favor of the United States by rifling in a shot from center at 5:05 prior to Alys Williams (3:37) and Musselman (2:45, 1:50) bombing away to cap off a 4-0 scoring sprint by the Americans to the final horn for the 15-11 victory.
Overall, the United States shot 15-of-38 from the field – including five-of-15 on man-up chances and one-for-one on penalty shots -, while ROC connected on 11-of-32 shots with a six-for-10 performance on man-up bids.
For the Olympics, Johnson now has 69 saves on 109 shots after previously posting 15 saves on 19 shots in downing Japan on July 24 (25-4 W), swatting away seven-of-14 shots versus China on July 26 (12-7 W), turning back nine-of-19 scoring tries against Hungary on July 28 (10-9 L) and stopping 16-of-21 shots in a 15-9 handling of ROC on July 30. In the quarterfinals, she played the first three quarters and stopped 14-of-17 shots versus Canada on August 3.
About Ashleigh Johnson: Johnson is among only two Tigers’ athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal (in 2016) and then come back to compete at Princeton (former United States Senator/men’s basketball player Bill Bradley was the other).
The C. Otto von Kienbusch and Cutino Awards during her senior season in 2017, she was the first player in Princeton women’s water polo history to be named first team All-America and third ever to be selected All-America in each of her four seasons. Johnson finished her Princeton career with a 100-17 record, along with a school-record 1,362 saves and a .693 save percentage. She was a 19-time CWPA Defensive Player of the Week award winner, a four-time first-team all-conference player and the CWPA Player of the Year.
Johnson’s appearance at the Olympics marks the fourth time in the past four games that the United States’ cage will be defended by a CWPA alumna as University of Michigan graduate and CWPA Hall of Fame member Betsey Armstrong was the goalie for the 2008 Silver Medal and 2012 Gold Medal squads.
Australia 14, Canada 12 (Bronwen Knox, Amy Ridge, Abby Andrews, Shae La Roche)
Former University of Michigan athletes Abby Andrews and Amy Ridge along with Hartwick College Hall of Fame member Bronwen Knox combined to shoot three-for-eight during regulation as Australia claimed a 14-12 shootout win over Indiana University alum Shae (Fournier) La Roche and Canada in Olympic women’s water polo action in Tokyo to earn a spot in the Fifth Place game.
The victory advances Australia into the Fifth Place game on Saturday, August 7, at 11:00 a.m. local time versus the Netherlands. Canada will square off with China at 9:30 a.m. in the Eighth Place game, while Hungary and ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) meet at 11:00 a.m. for the Bronze Medal prior to the Gold Medal match pitting the United States versus Spain at 4:30 p.m.
For Australia, Knox started and shot two-for-three by going two-for-two on action shots and zero-for-one on man-up chances in 23:50 of playing time. Overall, she now has six goals in the Games as she scored once in a win over Canada (8-5 W, July 24), twice versus the Netherlands (15-12 W, July 26), once against Spain (15-9 L, July 30) and was held without a shot against South Africa (14-1 W, August 1) before shooting zero-for-three in a 9-8 quarterfinal loss on August 3 to ROC.
Andrews shot zero-for-one versus Canada. Previously she scored once versus Canada, prior to netting a hat-trick with three goals against the Netherlands. Further, she finished one-for-one from the field with a power-play tally versus Spain, connected on one-of-three shots with a man-up tally against South Africa and shot zero-for-three against ROC to stand with six goals in the Olympics to date.
Ridge – who scored once versus the Netherlands, connected on two-of-four scoring chances versus South Africa and went one-for-one with a goal facing ROC – connected on one-of-four shots against Canada by swishing one-of-one action shots, zero-for-two man-up bids and zero-for one on counter attack bids. Overall, she is now five-for-15 from the field at the Olympics.
La Roche, who finished two-for-two with a pair of action goals in 21:16, now has nine markers in the Olympics as she netted a two on five shots over 25:53 in a 16-5 quarterfinal loss to the United States on August 3 after posting a pair of man-up markers in a 14-10 loss to Spain on July 26. She shot two-for-six in 16:05 during a 21-1 defeat of South Africa on July 28, and connected on one-of-five shots with a man-up tally in 24:34 during a 16-12 loss to the Netherlands on August 1. She was held scoreless in 18:32 of playing time during Canada’s opening game of the tournament – an 8-5 setback versus Australia on July 24.
La Roche factored twice in the first quarter to stake Canada to a pair of leads as she broke the ice at the 7:34 mark to make it 1-0. Following an Australia equalizer at 4:40, a go ahead strike by Canada at 4:15 and another tying goal by the Aussies at 3:50, Canada regained the lead for the third time in the opening frame as La Roche rifled home another action goal with 2:12 on the clock to give her homeland a 3-2 lead after eight minutes of action.
Knox evened the damage at three-all with 7:12 left in the second quarter prior to Canada pulling ahead once again at 4-3 with 6:34 on the clock. Ridge balanced the scoreboard at four-all at 5:23 with an action shot prior to Australia going ahead for the first time at 5-4 with 2:01 remaining in the first half. Canada evened the damage prior to intermission with a power-play strike with three seconds left on the clock as the teams entered the break deadlocked at five-all.
The lead continued to shift between the teams throughout the remainder of regulation as Canada went ahead 6-5 at the 6:50 mark of the third quarter prior to Knox burying an action shot at 6:25 to return balance to the scoreboard at six-all.
Australia inched ahead 7-6 at 4:48, but Canada stormed back with consecutive goals at 2:51 and 53 seconds to snag an 8-7 lead. However, the Aussies struck back prior to the horn by denting the twine with a man-up strike with 13 seconds on the clock to make it eight-all heading into the fourth quarter.
The game continued to be a one-score affair throughout the majority of the fourth quarter as Australia went ahead 9-8 (6:37) and 10-9 (3:27), while Canada responded at 6:10 and 2:13 to balance the scoreboard at nine-all and 10-all.
Neither team was able to conclude the game in regulation to force a penalty shootout to determine which team advanced the Fifth and Eighth Place games.
Canada went ahead 11-10 on a shot by Hayley McKelvey, but Australia responded via a volley by Zoe Arancini to make it 11-all. Following a miss by Canada’s Kyra Christmas, Ridge put Australia ahead 12-11. Axelle Crevier delivered for Canada to knot the game at 12-all, but Hannah Buckling returned the lead to Australia with a frozen-rope into the cage to make it 13-12 A miss by Canada’s Emma Wright followed by a liner by Keesja Gofers that found the twine closed out the game and allowed Australia to escape with a 14-12 win.
About Shae La Roche: A 2014 graduate of Indiana, La Roche (2011-2014) is one of the most decorated players in Hoosiers’ water polo history. She holds the top two school records for single-season goals (95 in 2014, 83 in 2013) and career goals (305), and is second in IU history in career steals (311). She was the 2014 CWPA Player of the Year, and earned second team Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America and College Sport Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) First-Team Academic All-America honors. La Roche is one of five players in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history to score 300 or more goals in her career.
The Most Valuable Player of the 2014 CWPA Championship hosted by Bucknell University for leading the Hoosiers to an 11-10 victory over Princeton University, La Roche is among a select group of Indiana women’s water polo players who won a pair of league titles during their tenure. In 2011 as a freshman, La Roche helped her squad down the University of Michigan, 5-3, at home in Bloomington for the program’s first title since taking home the 2003 crown.
She had an impressive junior international career, winning gold medals at the 2008 and 2010 Pan American Junior Championships to go with a sixth place finish at the 2009 FINA World Junior Championships. At the senior level, she competed in two FINA World Championships (2015, 2017) and captured a silver medal at the 2017 FINA World League Super Final. She also helped Canada win silver at the 2015 Pan American Games. She has made two appearances at the Summer Universiade, just missing the podium with fourth place finishes in both 2009 and 2013. She made her senior international debut in 2014, competing in the FINA Water Polo World League.
About Amy Ridge: Ridge competed for Michigan during the 2016 as a freshman. In 38 games, she tallied 20 goals and 10 assists and helped the Wolverines claim the 2016 CWPA Championship and a Fourth Place mark at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
About Bronwen Knox: The captain of the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Australia Olympic Women’s Water Polo teams and a two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist (2008, 2012), Knox is the only player in the history of the Hartwick College women’s water polo program to earn second team All-America honors from the ACWPC. She helped guide the Hawks to a record of 56-20, two CWPA Northern Division titles, a CWPA Eastern crown and a sixth-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Division I Championship during her two seasons in Oneonta, N.Y.
Following her freshman campaign in 2005, she was the CWPA Northern and Eastern Championship Rookie of the Year, a first team CWPA Northern and Eastern selection, and was an ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America selection. In 2006, Knox led the country in scoring with 127 tallies and was later named Most Valuable Player of both the Northern Division and Eastern Championships. She also earned ACWPC All-Academic team honors and received second team All-America accolades.
A 2012 inductee to the Hartwick Hall of Fame, she totaled 229 goals, 57 assists, 286 points, 209 steals as a member of the Hawks, including program single-season record 127 goals and 117 steals in 2006.
About Abby Andrews: Andrews competed for Michigan during the 2019 season and registered 57 goals, 71 assists and 47 steals with a 41-for-50 mark in sprints in the span of 32 games. A member of the 2019 CWPA Champion Wolverines, she claimed CWPA Rookie of the Year and ACWPC Honorable Mention All-America honors during her lone season in Ann Arbor. A 2019 CWPA All-Conference Second Team pick, she received Rookie of the Tournament and First Team All-Tournament recognition at the CWPA Championship prior to helping the Maize & Blue reach the NCAA Championship quarterfinals.
