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Golden matchup U.S., Australia advance to women's finalLatest: Monday October 09, 2000 11:42 PM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- The United States defeated the Netherlands 6-5 on Friday to advance to the gold medal game in the inaugural Olympic women's water polo competition. The Americans will take on host Australia in the gold-medal game. Maureen O'Toole scored twice and tipped away the final Dutch chance in the Americans' victory. But there were a lot of heroes in this one. Heather Moody collected a loose ball for America's go-ahead goal with 6:09 remaining. And goalie Bernice Orwig made a spectacular save on Carla Quint's blast from a few feet away in the final minute. The players jumped and cheered when it was over, hugging each other on the pool deck. "It's the highest we've gotten, the highest we've ever reached. It's huge,'' said O'Toole the 39-year-old star who dreamed about this goal since she first was told women couldn't win Olympic water polo medals.
"I always try and tell myself this is just a game,'' said O'Toole, who'll retire after Saturday's final. "But this is a lot more than that for us.''
That was the score of Australia's victory over the United States, America's only defeat at the Sydney Games. But O'Toole and her much younger teammates had hoped for another chance and they'll get it on one of the biggest stages a water polo game has ever had. "We think we'll be ready,'' said Coralie Simmons, whose goal drew the United States to 5-4 just before the half. O'Toole, known as the best player in water polo's history, scored the first two goals for the United States, who led 3-1 only three minutes into the game. But then the Netherlands, a factor in almost every major tournament it enters, rallied as Danielle de Bruijn and Mirjan Op den Velde scored two goals each. When Op den Velde slammed in her second two minutes before the half, the orange-clad Dutch fans erupted in celebration over the 5-3 lead. The American comeback began with Simmons' goal. Robin Beauregard banked one off the right sidepost to tie it at 5-all with 3:58 left. Moody was in the right place at the right time for the game-winner, picking up a short ball left for Kathy Sheehy and dumping it in the net. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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