Team USA’s Maddie Musselman scores five goals in water polo worlds final

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Maddie Musselman of United States competes during the FINA World Championships gold medal match. (Albert ten Hove/Orange Pictures/BSR Agency/Getty Images)

The United States women’s water polo team clinched its fourth straight world championship title, downing hosts Hungary 9-7 in Sunday’s final in Budapest.

Since 2016, the United States has dropped just one game across the Olympics, World Championship, World Cup and World Super League Final competitions.

Seven of the 13 athletes from the Tokyo gold medal-winning team returned for worlds, with MVP Maddie Musselman notching five goals in the team’s title game. Captain Maggie Steffens logged one goal, while Ryann Neushul scored three times in her world championship debut.

In goal, Ashleigh Johnson quieted Hungary, blocking ten shots throughout the final.

“The difference was our defense,” U.S. head coach Adam Krikorian said. “I don’t think we were very pretty offensively.”