W water polo (bronze medal game): Canada falls short of podium
(Photo credit: François Laplante, Freestyle Photography)
BELGRADE, Serbia - Team Canada spotted Russia a 7-2 first-half lead en route to a 10-8 loss in the bronze-medal game of the first-ever Universiade women's water polo tournament, Saturday, in Belgrade, Serbia.
Summer Universiade website: www.universiade-belgrade2009.org Team Canada website: www.universitysport.ca/belgrade
Team captain and Pointe-Claire, Que., native Stéphanie Valin, who attends Concordia University, paced the red and white with a hat trick, Saara Majuri of Coquitlam, B.C., notched a pair, while Kerry Kaukinen of North Vancouver, Jenna Crook of Regina and Athina Vazeos, also of Coquitlam, added singles.
Like a pair of cement shoes at the Banjica Outdoor Pool, Canada was under the water in the early going, and struggled to come back. The Canucks, who scored the first four goals of the second half, gamely fought back to within a goal twice after the break but couldn't overcome their mistake-filled slow start.
"In the first half its almost like we played a man down," said Canadian head coach Gyula Tóth. "We couldn't do anything, and when we made mistakes, Russia always put them in our goal."
"We played much better in the second half, the girls were fighting and did a good job, but we made a couple of crucial mistakes that cost us," added Tóth. "They played well and should be proud. I think we outplayed Russia, but they always converted on our mistakes."
The Russians opened the scoring six minutes into the contest and held a 2-1 first-quarter lead, before inflating it to 7-2 at halftime. Maajuri and Valin scored Canada's goals in the first half, while Russian striker Olexandra Karpovich recorded a hat trick, as the bronze medallists scored two power-play tallies.
Canada dominated the third stanza, outscoring its opponents 4-1, including two more by Valin, to start the final eight-minute quarter down by two. The Canucks lone mistake of the third frame was a costly one however as the Russians made it 8-6 when Monika Eggens inadvertently knocked the ball into her own net while trying to block a shot.
Kaukinen scored on a penalty shot three minutes into the fourth to make it an 8-7 affair, but it was as close as Canada would get the rest of the game.
The Russians responded with a pair, including on a 2-on-1 off a Canadian turnover, to jump to a 10-7 lead, before Vazeos scored Canada's final goal.
Valin ended the Universiade as Canada's top scorer, banking 12 goals in six games, and finished top five in goals in the tournament. Kaukinen and Maajuri each recorded 10 goals in the tourney.
Women's water polo was making its debut at the Universiade and the Chinese team, who beat Canada 16-7 in the semi-final, captured gold by defeating Hungary 12-8.
The third place finish marks the first bronze medal in water polo, women's or men's, for Russia, who led the 1977 Universiade in Sofia, Bulgaria, with 96 medals overall.
"It was a good learning experience for our girls," concluded Tóth. "The team has many talented players and I think women's water polo is headed in the right direction in Canada."
July 1 Group A: Canada 9, Serbia 3 July 3 Group A: Canada 10, Japan 5 July 5 Group A: Russia 13, Canada 7 July 7 Quarterfinal: Canada 10, Australia 8 July 9 Semi-final: China 16, Canada 7 July 11 Bronze: Russia 10, Canada 8
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
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