Photo from USA Water Polo website

Missed it by thaaaat much.  Falling 9-8 in the gold medal match to the Netherlands, who scored the game winning goal with less than a minute left.  The US team took two shots in the remaining time, both failing to find net and one of them just missing off the crossbar.  The loss gives them a silver medal, which most Olympians would kill to get—but after coming up just short in the final two Olympiads, and coming into this Olympics ranked #1 in the world, the loss has to be hard to swallow.  “This is going to be a bitter disappointment instead of joy,” coach Baker said to the AP.

The win for the Netherlands was something of a shock, since they’d come into the tournament ranked number nine in the world.  They came out strong, though, burying the US under a 4-0 lead.  At halftime, the American women had battled back to tie it at five, and it was tied at eight until Danielle DeBruijn scored the game winner for the Dutch with 26 seconds left.  De Bruijn was the difference, scoring 7 of the Netherlands’ 9 goals.

Despite the unfulfilled hopes for a gold, the women’s team still had a great performance throughout the games, a performance they’ll look to build off of in the future.  They also become the only team to win a medal in every Olympic Women’s Water Polo contest, taking a silver in 2000 and a bronze in 2004.  Congratulations and best wishes to all members of the team, most of whom reside in Long Beach, as they continue to build for the future!