Ex-Hartwick mates help Aussies to win

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August 2, 2012

Ex-Hartwick mates help Aussies to win

Anonymous STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS The Daily Star Thu Aug 02, 2012, 03:30 AM EDT

LONDON _ As a recruitment device, Hartwick College women's water polo coach Alan Huckins might want to carry around a video of Wednesday's Olympic women's water polo game between Australia and England.

That's because Huckins coached three of the 26 players who participated in Australia's 16-3 preliminary round victory over the host country.

Sophie Smith and Bronwen Knox _ Hartwick teammates in 2005 _ scored for the Aussies, and Lisa Gibson played for Great Britain. Gibson played for the Hawks in 2008.

Smith scored her first Olympic goal and contributed two steals. Knox, who earned a Bronze medal with Australia in the 2008 Olympics, scored for the second straight game and also had an assist.

The Australians improved to 2-0. Great Britain, competing in women's water polo for the first time in the Olympics, fell to 0-2.

Knox, 26, played for Hartwick in 2005 and 2006, earning Second Team All-America honors as a sophomore, when she led the nation in goals. Smith, 26, had 84 steals in helping the Hawks to a 28-9 record in 2005.

Gibson, 22, scored 21 goals for Hartwick.

Next up for Australia is Russia on Friday, when England plays Italy.

The United States played to a 9-9 tie with Spain on Wednesday.

Maica Garcia scored on a power play with 46 seconds to go, rising out of the water to flip a pass from captain Jennifer Pareja past U.S. goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong and inside the near post. The goal capped a furious comeback for Spain after trailing by three goals with less than three minutes to play.

"That game was definitely a battle," said Kami Craig, who led the U.S. with four goals. "A lot of ups and downs in there but we'll take a tie and move on."

Spain, which is making its Olympic debut in women's water polo, controlled the first half and led, 5-3, at the break behind three goals from captain Jennifer Pareja. But a veteran U.S. team cranked up its play on the defensive end in the second half, outscoring the Spanish, 6-1, over to lead, 9-6, with three minutes to play.

Undaunted, Spain rallied behind Pareja's fourth goal of the contest and then two from Garcia to earn the draw.

"It's hard to hold Spain down for so long," U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said. "We played great defensively in the second half, besides the last two minutes. We needed to get a five-on-six stop there at the end and we couldn't do it."

With the draw, both teams remain tied for first in Group A with three points from two games.

The U.S. has stood on the podium at every Olympics since the women's game debuted in 2000, finishing third in 2004 and second in 2000 and 2008. With seven players back from the Beijing squad, the Americans are the favorite in London along with Australia.

For Spain, a draw against the U.S. provides a boost of confidence.

"This means that we're there with the best, our hard work is paying off. We're playing really good water polo," Garcia said. "We want the respect of other teams, we're a young team but I do think now that the other teams respect us because we showed them what we're capable of."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.