By Elliott Almond, San Jose Mercury News –
PALO ALTO, Calif. — The U.S. women’s Olympic water polo team showed off its incredible promise Monday night at Stanford, scoring goals in droves with a ping-pong 17-8 victory over Hungary.
This was one of those rare moments when the defense rested—and rested again.
No one expects such a lopsided affair July 30 when the countries open the London Games against each other. But few at the sold-out Avery Aquatics Center complained as Stanford’s Maggie Steffens and Melissa Seidemann each had a hat trick to lead the Americans in the first of four exhibitions against Hungary.
Steffens and Seidemann were two of five players with Stanford connections, while two others are Cal graduates, and coach Adam Krikorian is a Mountain View, Calif., native. In other words, it was a Bay Area send-off for the Olympians.
The charged atmosphere in front of 3,042 knowledgeable fans infused the game with an Olympic intensity the women rarely see on U.S. soil.
“It’s a huge help,” said Jessica Steffens, a two-time Olympian and Maggie’s sister. “You can kind of get a sense of what it will be like.”
That’s important for a team with six players and a coach heading into their Olympic debuts.
The Americans hope this group can win its first gold medal after coming close in the three previous Olympic tournaments held for women. The United States has finished second twice and third once. Every finish has been dramatic and heartbreaking.
The United States slipped to sixth place at last year’s world championships after having been one of the best programs for ages. But it’s doubtful its opponents will be fooled by the result, especially after the way the Americans lapped the Hungarians in the second half with Maggie Steffens’ spectacular long-range sniping.
“To us we’re the underdogs,” Stanford’s four-time Olympian Brenda Villa said. “That’s what drives us.”
Villa, 32, remains one of the world’s greatest players. The Castilleja School coach said it’s easy to stay fresh when training with six newcomers.
“They’re all so young,” she said. “But they don’t play like it.”
That’s what Krikorian is counting on. When it comes to Olympic tournaments, rankings don’t mean much.
The coach wasn’t so much looking at Monday’s scoreboard as much as his players’ faces. He wanted to see how they would react to the intensity of a big crowd.
“This was great preparation for us before playing some of the biggest games of their lives,” he said. “We can play in the world championships or the World League finals, but it’s hard to simulate the Olympics. This is as close as we’re going to get.”
Seidemann called the series against Hungary an intelligence-gathering expedition. The Americans were playing a prolific scoring machine they don’t usually get to see.
“They’re a team that has high-scoring games,” Villa said. “But we’ve got Betsey.”
That was Villa’s shout out to extraordinary goalie Betsey Armstrong, who underscored just how difficult it is to get the yellow ball past her with some brilliant saves.
Despite the result, Krikorian wasn’t celebrating. He has less than a month to get his players peaked for London.
He’s trying to downplay the significance of being at the Olympics by telling the players it’s just a water polo game.
“The game doesn’t know we haven’t won a gold medal,” Krikorian said.
