U.S. women’s, men’s water polo teams earn gold at Pan American Games to qualify for Olympics

The United States women’s and men’s national water polo teams each won titles at the Pan American Games on Saturday in Lima, Peru, securing qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games next summer in Tokyo.

The U.S. women beat Canada 24-4, while the men defeated Canada 18-6.

It was the fifth straight Pan American Games title for the Team USA women, who have won 59 straight matches overall.

Former Laguna Beach High standout Makenzie Fischer (Stanford) scored six goals in the final against Canada, while former Corona del Mar High and USC standout Stephania Haralabidis had four goals. Maddie Musselman, another former CdM standout who now plays at UCLA, scored three goals for Team USA, which also got a goal from Laguna Beach alumna Aria Fischer (Stanford).

Alex Wolf, a former Huntington Beach High goalkeeper who now plays at UCLA, made 13 saves for the Team USA men in the final. He helped the team earn its seventh straight Pan American Games gold medal.

Johnny Hooper, Alex Bowen and Ben Hallock each scored five goals for the Team USA men in the final. Former Newport Harbor High and Cal standout Luca Cupido was among the other goal scorers.

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