‘Fun, exciting and relentless’ Stingers charge into Water Polo semis

Courtesy olympics.com.au

A resurgent Australian women’s Water Polo team is through to the semi-finals in Paris, defeating Greece 9-6 in the quarter-final in front of a massive and vocal crowd at La Defense Arena.

The victory over Greece was built on strong defence and a five-goal performance from Alice Williams. 

“It could not have gone any better for us,” dual Olympian Bronte Halligan said. “We’re playing fun, exciting, relentless water polo.

“This arena is insane and exciting to be a part of. We’re so proud of our efforts.”

The Stingers will play the USA in the semi-finals, after the Americans defeated Hungary 5-4.

Two-time Olympian Tilly Kearns labeled the quarter-final one of the hardest games she’s played, balancing the job at hand and the noise of the 15,000-strong crowd.

“During the anthem I was a blubbering mess,” Tilly said. “I couldn’t keep the tears to myself.”

“A crowd like that makes that victory sweeter and all the hard work we’ve done over the years worth it. We stayed true to everything we practiced.”

The quarter-final began as a low scoring affair, with the first 10 shots from both teams either saved or going wide.

Alice broke the deadlock for Australia, converting a penalty goal opportunity four and a half minutes into the game.

More aggressive defence and shot blocking continued until Abby Andrews got on a breakaway and finished the counter attack goal.

“We knew this time around that Greece wanted to play us,” Abby said. “So we wanted to put the nail in the coffin early and stamp our authority on that game.

“I think we did that.”

With the shot clock running down and positioned a good eight metres away from the goal, Bronte Halligan floated the ball over the keeper to send Australia up 3-0.

Greece found the scoresheet next through Maria Myriokefalitaki as part of a two-and-a-half-minute stretch where they levelled the scores at 3-all.

A pivotal moment in the third quarter came when the Aussies successfully defended their goal with the opposition camped at their end, the Greeks missing three shots.

Alice pocketed her second and third goals of the match in the third period, while Abby claimed her second,

Australia going to a 6-3 lead. A Nikoleta Eleftheriadou goal late in the period meant Greece was only down two with a quarter to play.

Alice’s fourth goal pushed the score out to 8-4 with 3:16 on the clock, leaving Greece needing something special in response.

“She’s a sniper,” Tilly said.

“To have her put balls in the back of the net when we need it most, we’re lucky to have her on our team. She steps up in huge moments.”

Greece did post two late goals, but Alice had the last say with her fifth goal of the night, the Stingers winning by three.

“Even though they caught up, defence has been our game for this whole tournament and we showed that,” Abby said.

“Keeping an attacking team like Greece to so few goals is pretty awesome.”

The Aussie Stingers are having one almighty moment at these Games, showing they are a team ready for the pressure of an Olympic semi-final – a place they haven’t been since London 2012.

The team is also relishing having family and families in the stands.

“My whole family is in yellow berets,” Bronte said.

“My two parents are from New Zealand so it’s funny seeing them in green and gold, but they’re embracing it and have Aussie spirit in them. Those berets are the best because I can see them up in the crowd when we come out.”

Abby was also buoyed by the support from her crew in the crowd. 

“I think I’ve got 24 people here,” she said. “So I had to find out where they all were, but they were all pretty loud.”

“They’re a great defensive team like us,” Tilly said. “There might not be many goals, it’s going to be a battle of defence.”