“That was, obviously, not the result that we were hoping for,” said Andrew Silva, the College of San Mateo aquatics coach who is on the Olympic team staff as video coordinator.

Silva is not in a position to comment on game play, being in a support position to head coach Adam Krikorian, who is from Mountain View.

Silva, however, has been relishing his time in Paris.

“It’s been a tremendous honor and fantastic experience being a part of the support staff and experiencing everything that comes with the Olympic Games,” said Silva.

“We use game film to evaluate our own team play and evaluate our next opponent. Experiencing the level of preparation that goes before a game actually starts has been incredibly valuable to me.

“The head coach takes the game film and selects specific segments to review with the team. We have a library of film to show the athletes, to look for adjustments we can make.”

The USA got off well in Thursday’s dramatic shootout setback, taking a quick 2-0 lead and holding 5-2 halftime advantage. Australia evened the score at 5-5 on three Abby Andrews goals in the third period.

Stanford grad Maggie Steffens, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, pushed the US back in front, 7-6, just before the quarter ended.

Rachel Fattal’s goal with 7:15 left in the game seemed to give the US some breathing room at 8-6. Bronte Halligan, however, smothered that hope with two Aussie goals for an 8-8 tie at the end of regulation.

The penalty shootout was even after both teams converted their first five shots. With Australia shooting first in the sixth round, Zoe Arancini slipped the ball past US goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson, setting up a pressure-packed US attempt. Australian goalkeeper Gabriella Palm got just enough of Maddie Musselman’s shot to push it into the left goalpost and it bounced away harmlessly to give Australia the victory.

Netherlands also went to overtime in the semifinals, falling to Spain in the penalty shootout, 5-4, after closing regulation in a 14-14 tie. Australia plays Spain for the gold medal on Sunday at 6:35 a.m. PDT.

There is local college flavor throughout the tournament, with Australia featuring former Stanford player Dani Jackovich, while Netherlands has Kitty Lynn Joustra from Cal. Canada had players from Cal, Stanford, San Jose State, and Pacific.

The US men will also play for the bronze medal, Sunday morning at 1:35 a.m. PDT. They fell to Serbia, 10-8, in Friday’s semifinals. The US men’s video coordinator is another California community college representative with Southwestern College-Chula Vista aquatics coach Matt Ustaszewski serving in that position in Paris.