Canada breezes by Kazakhstan en route to women's water polo World League Super Final semis

Canada's women's water polo team handily defeated Kazakhstan 11-3 on Thursday to earn a place in the semifinals of the World League Super Final in Athens, Greece.

Following a perfect preliminary round where Canada reeled off three consecutive victories, the Canadians continued their dominance by opening the match with a 5-0 lead after the first quarter.

Canada cooled off in the second and third frames, scoring a total of two goals, but defensively prevented Kazakhstan from generating much breathing room on offence.

"We had a really strong start going up 5-0 in the first quarter. Through the rest of the game, we kept control and had good team play," said Pointe-Claire, Que., native Joelle Bekhazi. "We were getting good opportunities but struggled to put them away. This is something we need to focus on in the upcoming games."

The Canucks were able to close out the match scoring four goals in the final quarter to close out the victory.

North Delta, B.C., native Hayley Mckevley and Bekhazi were the team's leading scorers with three goals each. Amanda Amorosa (Kirkland, Que.), Elyse Lemay-Lavoie (Montreal), Axelle Crevier (Montreal), Emma Wright (Lindsay, Ont.), and Gurpreet Sohi (Delta, B.C.) all scored one goal apiece.

Both teams played against each other in a tightly contested preliminary round match that saw Canada win 13-12.

Canada will play Hungary in the semifinals Friday at 1:15 ET.