Five Women of Troy Take Water Polo Silver
August 21, 2008 | Women's Water Polo
Aug. 21, 2008
USC's Olympic medal tally ballooned further today, as five Women of Troy helped make history for the United States women's water polo team. A silver-medal finish in Beijing makes Team USA the only women's water polo team to medal in three consecutive Games, a feat that likely would not have been accomplished without the efforts of five first-time Olympians hailing from USC. USC junior Kami Craig and Trojan grads Patty Cardenas, Brittany Hayes, Moriah Van Norman and Lauren Wenger all scored for Team USA during the run to the Olympic final. In the gold-medal match, the United States fell 9-8 to the Netherlands to take the silver medal in Beijing.
In the final match, van Norman was a powerful presence at two-meters, earning numerous ejections for Team USA and scoring a goal out of set. Craig, too, punched in a powerful strike out of two-meters, and Hayes tallied her eighth goal of the Games with a lob that tied up the game 8-8 in the fourth period. All told, the Women of Troy accumulated 20 goals in Beijing. In addition to Hayes' eight, Craig notched six, van Norman registered three, Cardenas had two and Wenger -- who reinjured her hand during the semifinals -- scored one to round out the Trojans' offensive onslaught for the silver medalists. Team USA also has former Trojan Bernice Orwig -- a 2000 silver medalist with the United States -- on staff as an assistant coach.
In the bronze-medal game, former Trojan Aniko Pelle of Hungary came up just short of her first Olympic medal, as Hungary fell in a shootout to Australia. She closed out her offensive run in Beijing with a whopping 12 goals for fourth-place Hungary.
