Assuming former Hartwick College standout Bronwen Knox and her Australian water polo teammates make the award podium Thursday, they'll not receive gold or silver medals.
The United States saw to that, edging the Aussies, 9-8, in a semifinal Tuesday at the Yingdong Natatorium in Beijing.
Knox, 22, extended in her streak of scoring in all five of Australia's games in these Olympics, pulling the Aussies to 7-5 with her 5-meter goal with 1 minute, 39 seconds left in the third quarter.
That was Knox's lone success in six shots.
After Australia made it 8-7 in the fourth quarter, Knox had two chances to score the equalizer.
She hit the post on a 5-meter shot with 5:06 left and had a shot attempt blocked with 3:51 to play.
Australia (3-1-1) tied it at 8 with 2:27 left on Kate Gynther's third goal of the game.
The Americans took advantage of a 20-second exclusion penalty on Taniele Gofers to score the winner. Brenda Villa capped a three-goal game by scoring an extra-player goal with one minute left.
The Aussies had a chance to tie on Rebecca Rippons' 5-meter shot but a U.S. defender blocked it with one second left.
Next for Australia is a rematch against Hungary in the bronze-medal game at 5 a.m. Thursday. The teams played to a 7-7 tie during pool play. Knox scored Australia's sixth and seventh goals to make it 7-5 before Hungary rallied.
Should Australia beat Hungary, Knox would become the first athlete with Hartwick ties to win an Olympic medal.
The U.S. will play the Netherlands for the gold medal at 6:20 a.m. Thursday.
For the tournament, Knox's nine goals rank tied for seventh.
China's Ao Gao and Hungary's Aniko Pelle are leading scorers with 11 goals apiece.
Gynther, Mieke Cabout and Danielle de Bruijn of the Netherlands, and Tania diMario of Italy all have 10 goals.
Greece's Antigoni Roumpesi and the Netherlands' Lefke van Belkum also have nine goals.
Knox played for the Hawks for two seasons, the last coming in 2006 when she led the nation in scoring with 127 goals. She had 102 goals in her freshman season. Following the 2006 season, Brisbane native Knox went back to Australia to train with the national team.
She currently attends Griffith University in Australia.
On Thursday, the U.S. will be without center forward Laura Wenger, who broke her right hand in the final minutes of Tuesday's game.
The Netherlands defeated Hungary, 8-7, in the other semifinal.
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