It could have been like any other game except this was a semifinal and the USA was expected to win heavily. Greece had upset World Cup champion en route to the semifinal and would not be denied a shot at history. Greece has an Olympic silver from 2004 but no medal at FINA World Championship level. Here was a chance to secure a medal two days before the final women’s competition day. The USA went three up thanks to two WINDES shots and a VILLA penalty. That lead was snuffed out by midway through the second quarter as ANTONAKOU twice and ASIMAKI once had the Greeks back on track. WINDES did her best to dent Greek pride with two more goals before halftime. ASIMAKI struck again early in the third period while RULON scored on extra. ROUMPESI closed to 6-5 by the final break. The game lit up further when KOUTELI opened the final-quarter scoring and brought the game to 6-6. WINDES scored her fifth goal of the semifinal and only her fifth goal of the tournament, surprisingly enough, when she found the top corner from outside for 7-6. GREGORKA scored her eighth of the championship from point for 8-6 at 2:20 and the game headed in favour of the USA. A Greek timeout yielded no goal but the next Greek attack saw TSOUKALA drill a long shot into the bottom right for 8-7 at 0:48.