SportStunned U.S. women leave Paris without medal in water polo

PARIS — Sabrina van der Sloot scored with less than a second on the clock as the Netherlands stunned the United States 11-10 for the bronze medal in women’s water polo on Saturday, denying the Americans a medal for the first time at the Olympics.

The game-winner capped an incredible comeback by the Dutch, who trailed 9-6 in the final quarter but thumped in five goals to topple the three-time champions.

The Netherlands secured their first medal for 16 years, having beaten the Americans 9-8 for gold in the 2008 final in Beijing.

“I’m a little bit in shock,” U.S. attacker Maddie Musselman said.

“It just shows the importance of staying in the moment and we weren’t able to capitalize on that today.”

The U.S. had finished on the medal podium at every Olympics since the Sydney 2000 debut of the women’s event.

U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said he felt “sadness” for his team but was incredibly proud of them.

“They worked their butts off today. They did everything they could,” he said, adding the opponent “obviously was the better team today. … It’s going to hurt for a while.”

With six goals from seven shots and two in the final quarter, thr 33-year-old van der Sloot carried Netherlands to victory.

With the score locked at 10-10, the Netherlands staff called a time-out with eight seconds left after winning a turnover.

In possession after the restart, van der Sloot confronted a crowded U.S. goal-mouth before winding up and launching a rocket that skipped off the water and beat U.S. keeper Ashleigh Johnson inside the right post.

With 0.7 seconds left on the clock, the U.S. had just enough time for one last fling but Johnson’s long-range effort was easily blocked in front of the cage.

Australia will face Spain in the gold medal match later on Saturday.

–Reuters, Special to Field Level Media