BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Rising sophomore center Maryanna Antoniou (Glyfada, Greece/Second General High School of Glyfada) of Hartwick College scored twice in 19:24 of playing time as Greece tied the United Kingdom/Great Britain at 7-7 in regulation prior to outgunning the Brits 4-3 in a penalty shootout to claim an 11-10 victory in the Ninth Place game of the 29th Summer Universiade/University Games in Chinese Taipei/Taiwan.
Antoniou, who shot two-for-three in the game, was among four Greek players to tally goals in regulation along with Ioli Angeliki Benekou (two), Stamatina Kontogianni (two) and Anthia Papanastasiou (one).
Greece jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter as Benekou and Kontogianni fired in shots. Papanastasiou expanded the spread to 3-0 with 6:58 left in the second quarter prior to back-to-back-to-back British bombs at 6:16, 4:30 and 1:42 to pull even at three-all. The teams then traded goals with Greece going ahead 4-3 (32 seconds) prior to Great Britain registering the equalizer (15 seconds). However, the Greeks regained the lead prior to the conclusion of the first half as Kontogianni lofted in a shot with one second left on the clock to stake her team to a 5-4 advantage on the scoreboard at the break.
Antoniou inflated the lead to 6-5 27 seconds into the third quarter by finding the back of the cage with a shot with 7:33 remaining in the period. Great Britain, however, refused to go silently as the UK unleashed scoring blasts at 5:56 and 4:16 to once again deadlock the squads at six-all.
Britain acquired its only lead in regulation with 6:15 to go in the fourth quarter by converting on a man-up chance to push ahead 7-6. Antoniou erased Greece’s deficit, however, in short order as she dented the twine at 5:11 to knot the score at seven-all.
Neither team could solve their opponent’s defense over the remaining five minutes of the fourth quarter as the teams went to the final buzzer tied at seven-all.
Per international rules, the teams advanced to a penalty shootout with both teams connecting on their opening volleys to make it nine-all. Great Britain went ahead 10-9 by cashing in on its third chance, but Greece drained opportunities No. four and five and held the UK off the scoreboard the rest of the way for an 11-10 victory. Antoniou did not appear during the shootout for Greece.
The Ninth Place game marked the best performance of the tournament for Antoniou who shot three-for-11 at the University Games as Greece fell to Australia (10-3 L), France (15-5 L) and Italy (14-3 L) prior to downing Argentina (8-5 W) and slipping against the United States of America (18-3 L) in Group B play. Facing New Zealand in a Ninth/12th Place game, Antoniou scored once by connecting on one-of-two shots to punch Greece’s ticket to the Ninth Place game against Great Britain.
