U.S. women down Spain to win third consecutive water polo gold medal

Maggie Steffens of Danville knew winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in water polo Saturday would be special for the U.S women’s team.

The former Stanford star had been with her teammates the past five years as they endured trauma and tragedy while continuing to remain the world’s best team.

“No matter the adversity that is thrown our way, we stick together as a team, and we rise up and we thrive in those moments,” she said after the United States’ 14-5 victory over Spain to win the gold medal. “It was really amazing to see the balance and the full team effort.”

The twists and turns it took to the gold medal podium at the Tokyo Games might have derailed other teams.

Melissa Seidemann, who graduated from Stanford before Steffens arrived, had attended the country music concert in Las Vegas in 2017 where a gunman killed 59 people. She was with U.S. teammates Alys Williams and Maddie Musselman.

Two years later, team star Kaleigh Gilchrist almost lost a leg after a balcony collapsed in South Korea where she and a teammate had been celebrating the United States’ third World Championship title in South Korea.

Then last September Seidemann’s mother Bobbie Seidemann, of Walnut Creek, died after suffering her third stroke.

The team also lost more than a year of games because of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. Coach Adam Kirkorian challenged the players as much as possible.

They tried to mimic games while their chief Olympic rivals Spain and Hungary participated in domestic professional leagues.

“Our teams had some tiffs and had to get after it and beat each other up every single day,” Steffens said.

It wasn’t easy playing a combative game in the pool and being supportive of teammates afterward. But Steffens said the Americans stuck together.

All that work showed Saturday against previously undefeated Spain.

They marched to a 6-1 lead early in the second quarter behind power-play goals from Stanford’s Makenzie Fischer and USC’s Gilchrist.

The Americans were patient on offense to pick apart the Spanish. They won behind goalie Ashleigh Johnson and an aggressive defense.

Johnson had 11 saves while UCLA’s Musselman scored three goals in a balanced performance.

“I think that was just a show of who we are as a team,” Steffens said.

Steffens, who has been part of all three gold-medal runs, scored a goal Saturday to add to her Olympic career record of 56.

“I think with the pandemic, the postponement, so many challenges, so much adversity, individually and as a group, we kept coming out of those stronger and always stronger together,” Steffens added.

The Spanish could not figure out how to get the ball past Johnson, who had 80 saves in Tokyo. Spain converted only two of 16 power-play opportunities, spelling their defeat.

“Her presence, you can feel it, even when you’re on offense,” Musselman said. “You don’t even have to turn around to know if she’s blocked it or not, you just know.”

The closest Spain got was 2-1 in the first quarter. Then Musselman converted on a power play and Stanford’s Rachel Fattal scored with a second left in the quarter to make it 4-1.

Spain regrouped in the second quarter to head into halftime trailing 7-4

But the Americans scored five unanswered goals in the third quarter to take control. Williams and Stanford’s Aria Fischer scored on power plays at the start of the third quarter.

Johnson made five straight saves to frustrate the Spanish. Aria Fischer scored her second power-play goal with six seconds left in the quarter as the United States expanded the lead to 12-4.

The victory had historical context because of how the first three Olympic women’s water polo tournaments played out for the Americans.

Six seconds had separated the women from celebration and joy in what started out with bitter disappointment. Despite being one of the world’s best teams, something always seemed to sabotage the Americans’ chances.

In the inaugural tournament in Sydney, they lost the gold medal on a controversial call with 1.2 seconds left in the championship game against host Australia.

In Athens, four years later, more questionable calls ended their title hopes when Italy scored in the final two seconds of the semifinals.

Then in Beijing in 2008, the United States was upset by the Netherlands 9-8 in the final when Stanford’s Brenda Villa could not convert a blind back-hand slap as time ran out.

But the history of Olympic water polo was not on the mind of Kirkorian. He said everyone who found their way to Tokyo had faced similar adversities as the U.S. team.

“To get to this point is a fricken gold medal in itself,” he said.