A look at all four games during Day 3 of competition in the women's water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics.
Game 1: Australia 15, Netherlands 14 (Australia 8, Netherlands 7 in PSO)
In a thrilling penalty shootout that lasted 20 total shots, Australian keeper Genevieve Longman stopped the 10th and final shot by the Netherlands to give her team a 15-14 win.
Longman didn't play in regulation, but came in at the start of the shootout.
“It's something I always know is a possibility, so I’m always ready on the bench," Longman said. “We're a team and we’ve always viewed it that way. If I'm called on or needed in a penalty shootout I’m always ready to go.”
She called her game-winning save a "relief."
“It was just a relief to get my hand on it, and then I needed to make sure the ball wasn't going to go over the line as it started moving back towards the goal," Longman added. “As soon as I heard the whistle being blown, that's when the relief and overwhelming excitement hit."
After trailing 4-3 at the half, Australia tied the score one minute into the third on a goal by Sienna Green, and took the lead 90 seconds later on a goal by Alice Williams. From there, Netherlands never led in the second half as the teams tied three times the rest of regulation. They went into penalties knotted up, 7-7.
After the first five penalty shots, the two teams were tied with four successful attempts each. Both made their sixth, missed their seventh, and made Nos. 8 and 9. Bronte Halligan was successful on Australia's 10th shot, setting up the game-winning save for Longman.
In regulation, Green and Williams had two goals each to lead Australia, while Gabriella Palm had eight saves. Sabrina van der Sloot and Simone van de Kraats both had two goals each for the Netherlands.
“It was a really tough game because a lot of the things we tried to do just didn’t work out," van der Sloot said. "One of our usual qualities is our shooting, but we didn’t manage to score a lot today, so that was not good... We have still qualified for the quarterfinals, so we have to now continue and learn from this defeat and move on.”
The loss was the first of the Paris Games for the Netherlands, which came in at the top of the Group A standings.
Australia improved to 2-0.
“I’m just so proud of our team," Longman said. "It's one thing for us goalkeepers to stop the ball, but we had five girls putting those balls in the back of the net at the other end during the shootout... With all the nerves and the anxiety that goes with that, and to get the win, I'm just incredibly proud of this group. The way we held it together, we came back, and we really pushed what is an incredibly good team.”
Game 2: Canada 12, China 7
Four goals in the first quarter gave Canada all the cushion it needed in Wednesday's win.
The Canadians held China scoreless in the first, but allowed three goals in the second, going into the half up, 5-3. They rolled from there, adding four goals in the third and three in the fourth.
Axelle Crevier, Emma Wright, Elyse Lemay-Lavoie, and Serena Browne all had two goals for Canada as eight different scorers found the net. Deng Zewen led China with three goals.
Game 3: USA 10, Italy 3
The U.S. bounced back from a Game 2 loss in a big way, showing their defensive prowess in a win over Italy.
Spain 10, Greece 8
Judith Forca scored the go-away goal to put Spain up, 8-7, with 2:10 left in the third. After both teams had tied six times to that point, the Spanish squad held on the rest of the way for the win.
Forca finished with a game-high four goals, including one penalty shot. Elena Ruiz scored midway through the fourth to put Spain up by three, her second and final goal of the night. Beatriz Ortiz also had two goals for the Spaniards.
Nikoleta Eleftheriadou and Vasiliki Plevritou added two goals each.
With the win, Spain remains unbeaten and atop the Group
Coming up
The women's water polo tournament will continue on Friday with four games. Australia will open the day against Canada at 8 a.m, following by Greece/Italy at 9:35 a.m. In the second sessions, the U.S. will face France at 12:30 p.m., and China will take on Hungary at 2:05 p.m. All game times listed are Eastern Time.