BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Indiana University goalie Jessica Gaudreault (Sr., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada/St. Joseph) kept her side of the bargain and Hoosiers’ alum Shae Fournier (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Grant Park) aided in the field in helping Canada down host Hungary, 6-4, on Monday, July 24, in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FINA World Championship in Budapest at the Alfred Hajos Pool. In another quarterfinal, Maddy Steere (So., Pascoe Vale, Australia/St. Catherine’s School) of the University of Michigan did not score as Australia suffered a 7-5 loss to the United States to fall into the consolation side of the bracket.
The win for Canada advances the squad into the championship semifinals on Wednesday, July 26, where the team will face either Greece or Spain in a 10:00 p.m. local time/4:00 p.m. Eastern clash for a spot in the FINA World Championship title game. Russia and the United States will meet in the other semifinal at 8:35 p.m. local/2:35 p.m. Eastern.
Led by five goals from Monika Eggens and the netminding of Gaudreault, Canada survived in back-and-forth affair that saw 1-0 scoring margins in the first, third and fourth quarters mark the difference in the end.
Leading 1-0 after a quarter of action as Eggens lined in a blast on an extra-man chance in the opening minutes of the game, Canada saw is narrow margin evaporate by halftime as the teams went to their corners deadlocked at four-all.
Canada, which never trailed in the contest, finished off the host nation by putting away gaols in the third and fourth quarter for the difference as Gaudreault blanked Hungary in the second half for a 7-5 victory.
Overall, neither team excelled on man-up chances with Canada shooting three-for-10, while Hungary put away one-of-nine bids with an extra-attacker against Gaudreault.
Dora Czigany, Orsolya Takacs, Anna Illes and Dorottya Szilagyi each netted one goal for Hungary, while Emma Wright connected for one score to go along with Eggens’ five markers for Canada.
Fournier, Gaudreault and Canada are now guaranteed no lower than a Fourth Place finish at the championship as the 2017 FINA World League silver medallist could square off with FINA World League Champion the United States in another all-North America final if both teams claim their semifinal games on Wednesday.
In the other quarterfinal featuring a Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) women’s student-athlete, Australia and the United States needing to overcome each other and the weather.
Facing the defending Olympic Champion squad from the United States through a driving rain accompanied by occasional thunder, Australia and Team USA were unable to boom in a shot in the first quarter as the teams played to a scoreless tie.
However, the United States pulled away in the second quarter with three strikes to carry a 3-0 lead into halftime. Following a 2-2 output by the squads in the third quarter to set the scoreboard at 5-2 in favor of the Americans, the Aussies outscored Team USA 3-2 in the final moments of the game but were unable to pull even down the stretch as the United States held on for a 7-5 victory.
Similar to the Canada-Hungary game, neither team performed admirably on their man-up chances as the United States shot two-for-five with Australia registering a one-for-eight performance.
Madeline Musselman and Jordan Raney led the way for the United States with pairs of goals, while Melissa Seidemann, Rachel Fattal and Jamie Neushul each found the back of the cage once.
Keesja Gofers registered the majority of the offense for Australia with four goals. Rowie Webster chipped in a solo strike for the Aussies’ other tally.
The defeat drops Australia into the consolation side of the bracket as the team will face Italy, which fell to Russia by a 9-8 score, at 1:30 p.m. local/7:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, July 26, with a berth in the championship’s Fifth Place game on the line.
