Day 4 FINA World League Super Final: Aussie Stingers

The Aussie Stingers have gone down to reigning Olympic champions the USA 1-12 overnight, in the elimination final at the FINA World League Super Final in China.

It has not been the campaign the Australians were hoping for with their young side, but they have a chance at redemption when they face Spain in a rematch today at 5:00pm.

The Aussie Stingers started well with various opportunities and continued to put pressure on the USA goalkeeper.

In a low scoring first half, both teams defence stood solid resulting in a 0-3 score line to USA at half time.

In the third quarter, Morgan Baxter continued her great goal scoring form for the tournament and netted Australia’s first goal of the match.

But USA kicked into gear to score an impressive five goals in the third quarter and pushed the score out to 1-8 heading into the last quarter.

Aussie Stingers Assistant Coach Taryn Woods said as a team you have to make the most of all your opportunities when you face a quality opposition like USA.

“They had a couple of strong centre forwards and two strong centre backs and they played a heavy, physical game.

“We missed a few shots early on and didn’t get as much space to execute but we’re persevering with our systems,” she said.

Tonight’s playoff against Spain will determine which standing Aussie Stingers will compete for tomorrow on the final day of competition.

Aussie Stingers captain Zoe Arancini says the team is remaining positive despite the results not going their way.

“It was a tough loss yesterday (against USA), but we’re working on and developing our systems all in preparation for the World Cup.

“The loss is disappointing, but we can only go up from here and we are looking forward to the next few games,” she said.

Tune in when the Aussie Stingers face off against Spain via FINAtv stream or match updates on Water Polo Australia’s twitter @WaterpoloAus. Play starts from 5pm AEST.

Aussie Stingers Team:

1. Lilian Hedges – Fremantle, WA
2. Madeleine Steere – Victoria, VIC
3. Hannah Buckling – Sydney Uni, NSW
4. Elle Armit – Drummoyne, NSW
5. Isobel Bishop – Sydney Uni, NSW
6. Bronwen Knox – Breakers, QLD
7. Pascalle Casey – Balmain, NSW
8. Amy Ridge – Cronulla, NSW
9. Zoe Arancini (c) – Fremantle, WA
10. Jessica Zimmerman – Dolphins, WA
11. Morgan Baxter – Drummoyne, NSW
12. Lena Mihailovic – Cronulla, NSW
13. Gabriella Palm – Barracudas, QLD