One Olympics semifinal match. Five former Bruin athletes.

All facing off in the Olympic women’s water polo semifinals – three playing for the United States and two for Australia.

For the U.S., it meant an opportunity for a four-peat Olympic gold medal.

And for Australia, it meant a chance at its first gold medal match since 2000.

After ending regulation tied at 8 and a perfect overtime shootout performance by both teams, Australia downed the United States 14-13 in the sixth round of penalty goals to claim its spot in the Olympic final in Paris on Thursday.

Back-and-forth scoring kept the match tight throughout the first three periods. Former Bruin attacker Rachel Fattal found the back of the net early in the fourth quarter to push the Americans to an 8-6 lead, but the goal would be the team’s final point of regulation.

Australia’s Bronte Halligan – former UCLA attacker – responded with two goals of her own, sending the game to penalties.

Despite scoring twice in match play, former Bruin attacker Maddie Musselman’s final penalty shot was blocked by the Aussie Stingers, sending Australia to the final and eliminating America’s four-peat chances.

After suffering the semifinal loss – marking the first time the team wouldn’t see the gold medal match since 2004 – the U.S. faced the Netherlands to fight for bronze.

Despite entering the final period of the with a 9-6 lead over the Dutch, the Americans faced an eerily similar result as their semifinal game.

A successful penalty goal and three consecutive goals from the Netherlands tied the game at 10 late in the fourth quarter, and a last-second goal ended the match with the Netherlands on top at 11-10.

The loss marked the first time Team USA wouldn’t make the podium since women’s water polo’s Olympic debut in 2000.

As the U.S. fell short against the Netherlands, Australia took a similar turn in the battle for gold.

The Australians came up just short with a 11-9 loss against Spain. Despite falling short of gold, 2024 marked the team’s first gold medal match since they claimed gold as hosts of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

UCLA rising junior utility Sienna Green joined Halligan with Australia. Green made history as the youngest woman to represent Australia in women’s water polo and played in all seven matches, scoring three goals throughout the Games.

After earning silver in Paris, Green will return to Westwood in the fall, preparing to defend a different water polo title – an NCAA championship.