ORD MINNETT AUSSIE STINGERS 2025 WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN

GAME 5 | AUSTRALIA 8 - GREECE 12

On the penultimate day of World Cup, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have gone down fighting against hosts Greece.

Having spent a week in Athens before the World Cup alongside Greece, the Aussies were looking forward to a tough battle.

Paris Olympic silver medalist Sienna Hearn scored the first goal of the game, converting from six metres just 30 seconds into the game.

Two goals from fellow medalist Abby Andrews drew the scores to 3-3 at quarter time.

Emma Putt scored her first international goal early in the second quarter, before two-time Olympian Bronte Halligan scored a goal to end the Greeks one and close the gap back to two at half time, 5-7.

In the third quarter, Paris Olympian Alice Williams added another goal to her tournament haul, and West Australian Pippa Pedley scored in the dying seconds of the third quarter.

Trailing by three heading into the last quarter, centre Dani Jackovich put one into the back of the net to close the gap back to two. But it wasn’t enough to hold off the Greeks in front of a passionate home crowd, the end score 12-8 falling in favour of the home side.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will play one more game, against the Netherlands tomorrow at 2am AEDT to determine their final ranking for the World Cup Super Final in April.

GAME 4 | AUSTRALIA 11 - SPAIN 14

In an Olympic style rematch, the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers took on Paris gold medalists Spain, going down to the wire and recording a narrow loss, 11-14.

With the World Cup points reset to zero, all three games in phase two will determine the rankings for the World Cup Super Final, to be played in April.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers came out firing, scoring three goals in the first quarter courtesy of Paris Olympians Alice Williams (2) and Abby Andrews (1).

Spain fired back in the second quarter, outscoring the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers 5-0, and the scores standing at 3-8 in favour of the Spanish at half time.

Momentum swung back in favour of the Aussies in the third quarter, courtesy of some tough defence and clinical attack that saw them outscore the opposition 7-3 to close the scoreline to 10-11 at three quarter time.

Charlize Andrews scored a crucial goal in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Spanish, who claimed a 3-goal victory.

Olympic silver medalist Sienna Hearn said: “I think we did a really good job, but we lapsed in the second quarter and that probably cost us the game.

“We fought hard, and played true Stingers style of water polo in the third quarter, but we just couldn’t hold on enough,” she said.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will now play Greece on Sunday 19 January at 4am AEDT.

“Greece will have a big crowd, and I think they are going to come out strong. They are a really physical and tough team, so we need to expect that and not be taken aback by that,” Hearn said.

“Playing in front of a big crowd brings up that energy in the team, so I think it will be exciting but it will be challenging so we’ll have to be really good with our communication and listening to each other really well in the pool,” she said.

GAME 3 | AUSTRALIA 12 - ITALY 8

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have secured a World Cup Super Final berth, after today’s win against Italy.

With the first phase of World Cup wrapped up, Australia have advanced to phase two, and three more games to play in Greece to determine their seeding for the World Cup Super Final in April.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers came out firing, eager to cement their position in the top four.

Yesterday’s MVP Charlize Andrews opened the goal scoring four Australia, converting in the first minute of the game.

Olympic silver medalist Dani Jackovich converted two goals in the first quarter, while Pippa Pedley and Abby Andrews also added their name to the scoresheet, to push the Aussies lead to 5-1 at quarter time.

Abby Andrews scored another in the second quarter, while two-time Olympian Bronte Halligan scored from 6 metres to give the Aussies a 7-2 lead at half time.

Another two goals went to left hander Abby Andrews in the third quarter, and Nioka Thomas also slotted one into the back of the cage.

A fourth quarter goal by Alice Williams, and a final goal to Abby Andrews, saw the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers close out the game 12-8.

Abby Andrews was named MVP of the game, but said it required a full team effort to get the win.

“It was a super important step for us to move forward. Last time we did World Cup we fell agonisingly short of making the next stage.

“So knowing that we’re onto the next stage is huge for us as a team, especially as a young team.

“We went into that (today’s) game knowing that Italy is always going to be feisty and be fast, but we came out firing and it was so awesome to watch everyone in unison and to really stamp our mark on the game.

“There’s still a lot to learn, we slowed down a bit towards the end and almost let them back in, so there’s a lot to fix but a really exciting signs from the start,” she said.

The next game for the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will be a rematch of the Paris Olympic Games gold medal match, where they will take on Spain on Saturday 18 January at 6am AEDT.

GAME 2 | AUSTRALIA 15 - ISRAEL 6

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers have claimed their first win of the World Aquatics World Cup in Greece, with a 15-6 victory over Israel.

It was a full team performance from the Aussies, dominating from start to finish.

Olympic silver medalist Abby Andrews opened the scoring early in the first quarter for the Aussies, team mate Charlize Andrews scoring three goals in the first quarter.

Strong Aussie defence in the second quarter kept Israel to one goal, while the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers added another three goals to their haul.

In the third quarter, goal keeper Claire Durston made some crucial saves for the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers, and the scores stood at 11-4 in favour of the Aussies at three quarter time.

A dominant last quarter by the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers saw them close out the game with a 9-goal win.

Olympic silver medalist Charlize Andrews was named Player of the Match, after scoring five goals.

“Tonight went well - we learnt a lot after yesterday’s game going down to the Netherlands,” Andrews said.

“Israel definitely put up a good fight tonight and we managed to adjust our defence and kept them at a low score which was good,” she said.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will now play Italy in their final group game on Friday 17 January at 6am AEDT.

“They’re a very fast team and technical team, but as long as we stick to our structure and style of play, it will be a good game,” Andrews said.

GAME 1 | AUSTRALIA 9 - NETHERLANDS 11

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers put up a tough fight in their opening game of the World Aquatics World Cup, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Olympic bronze medalists the Netherlands, who claimed a 9-11 win.

The Dutch opened the scoring early, converting four goals in the first quarter, to Australia’s one.

Strong defence from both teams made for slow scoring in the second quarter, and the score standing at 2-5 at half time in the Netherlands favour.

A strong third quarter from the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers put them back in the hunt, Paris Olympic silver medalists Dani Jackovich, Bronte Halligan and Alice Williams scoring six goals between them, and the scores locked at 8-8 at three quarter time.

In the final quarter, the Netherlands managed to sneak three goals through the Aussie defence to claim a two goal victory, 9-11.

Jackovich said there were a lot of firsts for the Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers tonight, but they’ll take plenty of learnings into the remainder of their World Cup campaign.

“First game back since the Olympics, first game of the new cycle and first game of the year, also the first game for three of our debutants which was really exciting.

“The focus this week has been a lot on us, getting back together as a group and bringing in the new generation, and hoping to build on where we left off (in Paris).

“But I think the game was tough, we went down early but we fought back, and that’s a testament to how we play as the Stingers, and our never say die attitude.

“Unfortunately it didn’t go our way with the win, but I think we learned a lot in that game and there’s still a lot of good learning opportunities that we can use as we move forward through the tournament, and continue to grow together,” she said.

The Ord Minnett Aussie Stingers will play their second match against Israel on Thursday 16 January at 6am AEDT.