BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Princeton University athlete Jovana Sekulic and alumna/goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson both scored once as the United States suffered a 13-11 setback versus Spain in the Americans’ second game of Group B competition at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Team USA pushed ahead in the game’s early moments by building leads of 1-0 and 2-1 prior to expanding the margin to 3-1 with 3:12 left in the first quarter. However, Spain rallied back to pull ahead 4-3 with 5:34 left in the second quarter prior to a United States surge allowing the three-time defending Olympic champions to acquire a 6-5 margin heading into halftime.
Spain overwhelmed the Americans in the dawning moments of the third quarter to move in front by an 11-6 count with 3:31 remaining in the frame.
Trailing 11-9 at the end of the third quarter, Team USA moved within a goal as 5:35 remained in regulation. However, scores by Spain at the 4:10 and 17 seconds marks insulated the Spaniards’ margin to 13-10. Johnson capped off the United States’ offense by putting away an action shot with two seconds left on the clock for the 13-11 final score.
Johnson finished one-for-three shooting with 13 saves on 26 shots against (10-for-16 action shots/zero-for-one center/three-for-seven man-up/zero-for-one six-meters/one-for-one penalty shot) in 32 minutes of action. Sekulic shot one-for-one with a steal in 11:33 of playing time with an action shot goal with 1:20 left in the first half to tie the score at five-all.
The loss drops the United States to 1-1 in Group B competition following a 15-6 defeat of Greece on July 27, while Spain improves to 2-0 on the heels of a 15-6 victory over host France.
Team USA will return to the water on Wednesday, July 31, against Italy before facing France on Friday, August 2.
Complete results and links to live statistics for each women’s water polo game are available by CLICKING HERE.
