US women reach water polo semis

Melissa Seidemann scored two of five unanswered first-half American goals Sunday, sending the United States to a 9-6 water polo quarterfinal win over Italy. Italy took a 2-0 lead in the opening 2:07 of the game, then was overwhelmed by an avalanche of U.S. goals. The Americans were facing a 3-1 deficit late in the first period, but blanked the Italians for the remainder of the opening half. Another burst of three goals in a 2-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter put the game away. Seidemann had three goals overall while both Brenda Villa and Kelly Rulon scored twice for the Americans. Tania di Mario led Italy with three goals. The win put the United States into Tuesday's semifinals against Australia, which went to a shootout against China before coming away with a 20-18 victory. Three-time defending Olympic champion Hungary made it through to the semifinals with an 11-10 win over Russia. Dora Antal gave Hungary a two-goal lead with 1:19 to play. The United States, which lost to Hungary in the 2008 gold medal game, defeated Hungary 14-13 in group play at these Olympics.