SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- They smiled. They joked. They talked of success.

 This was a team that lost?

 The U.S. women's water polo team threw out their first-ever Olympic loss, 7-6 to Australia on Tuesday (Monday night EDT), almost as soon as they toweled off.

 "It's the past," goalkeeper Nicolle Payne said. "You've got to put it behind you."

 U.S. coach Guy Baker looked at his team's stats, a miserable 4 of 13 with a person advantage. "That's something that we only lost by a goal," he said, smiling.

 "We can fix that," driver Courtney Johnson said. "And we will."

 The confidence and ease of the Americans after losing a face-off between the best teams at the Sydney Games comes from two things -- they have locked up a spot in the medal round after the Netherland's 7-4 defeat of Canada Tuesday night (Tuesday morning EDT) and they have come back from much worse before.

 "We'll yell at them for a while, make them swim tonight," joked Baker of how he will handle losing his first Olympic game.

 Villa's eyes grew wide in a terrified expression.

 "That's a joke for those of you who don't know," said Baker, as he and Villa smiled.

 Why shouldn't they?

 The U.S. team, failing at its first qualifying chance, had to go to Sicily in April for a 12-team tournament including water polo champions like Hungary and Italy to get to the Ryde Aquatic Center.

 The Americans finished second behind Russia to make the six-team Olympic field.

 Things gelled in training, Baker said, and the team swept a Holiday Cup tourney in July that featured the other five nations in the first-ever Olympic women's event.

 In Sydney, confidence soared with the opening, 6-4, victory over Netherlands, the defending World Cup champ. A miracle finish -- three goals in the last two minutes -- tied Canada and the United States followed with a 7-5 victory over Russia.

 The Americans last preliminary comes Wednesday night (Wednesday morning EDT) against Kazakstan, considered the weakest of the group here. It has been outscored 27-11 in losing its first three games.

 Baker didn't sound like a concerned coach. He praised the raucous, green-and-gold, home-pool crowd. Laughed at the signs like, "Bore It To 'Em, Aussies." He held out defender Robin Beauregard, who scored twice during the Canada rally, when she came up with a sore knee.

 "My competitive nature almost got the better of me," Baker said. "I looked at Robin a couple of times at the end. But we want to rest her until the semifinals in the medal round."

 The game was much more crucial to the Australians, who were surprised by the Netherlands 5-4 a day earlier.

 "I didn't put any pressure on the girls," Australian coach Istvan Gorgenyi said. "But they knew it was important."

 Villa's second goal, which started on a steal by 39-year-old star Maureen O'Toole, tied things at 6 with 3:17 to go. The Americans had come from two goals down and the score looked another part of their charmed Olympics.

 But Australia's captain Bridgette Gusterson got most of the nearly 4,000 fans jumping when she whipped a right-handed shot past goalie Nicolle Payne for the winner.

 "You could feel the steely intensity out there," Gusterson said. "You always know that's the way it's going to be when you play the Americans."

 An air of magic that had surrounded the United States, led by O'Toole, was taken away for the moment by the Australians and their wild fans. Each American error was cheered. When chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A" went up, they were overwhelmed by "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie."

 When the Americans fell behind, they tried too hard to find O'Toole, the best player in the history of women's water polo, who returned from retirement for her only Olympic chance.

 The Australians were ready, swimming two and three people her way. When O'Toole did get a clear shot, she fired wide over the top of the net.

 "We let ourselves down," O'Toole said.

 But Baker left the happiest looking losing coach in Sydney.

 "That was a pretty entertaining game, a great crowd, great for the sport," he said.