NANTERRE, FRANCE — Ashleigh Johnson made 17 saves and Rachel Fattal broke a fourth-quarter tie as the U.S. women’s water polo team beat Hungary 5-4 in a physically competitive quarterfinal at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday night.

USA captain Maggie Steffens scored twice and played some great defense late in the game against Hungary center Rebecca Parkes. Steffens, 31, played the entire match.

The U.S. is competing for its fourth consecutive gold medal. No team — men’s or women’s — has ever won four consecutive Olympic water polo titles.

The U.S. next stops Australia, which advanced to the next round by beating Greece 9-6, while Spain will face the Netherlands in the other semifinal on Thursday at Paris’ La Defense Arena.

Spain advanced to the second quarter-finals by beating Canada 18-8, while the Netherlands beat Italy 11-8.

Hungary pushed the U.S. to the edge in another close matchup. Hungary beat the U.S. 10–9 in group play during the Tokyo Games and also handed the Americans a 10–8 upset on July 9. The U.S. won the gold medal at the world championships in Qatar in February, beating Hungary 8–7.

The matchup at the Paris Games was tied 4-4 entering the fourth period. Fattal then put the U.S. ahead with a perfectly placed shot on a 6-on-4 power play with 3:02 remaining.

Hungary had a few opportunities to tie the score in the final minutes, but the USA continued to fight back with Johnson and his tough defense.

Hungary finished with 31 shots, while the U.S. had 22. Rita Keszthelyi, Krisztina Garda, Kamilla Farago and Dora Leimeter scored for Hungary.

American star Maddie Musselman did not score. She had three shots.

Spain improved to 5-0 at the Olympics after losing to the United States in the Tokyo final, outscoring its opponents 69-44 so far.

Elena Ruiz scored four goals in a quarterfinal win and Bea Ortiz continued her strong tournament by scoring three more. Martina Terre made 12 saves.

Anni Espar Llaquet scored with 4:58 left in the first period to start a 4-0 run for Spain. Ortiz scored in the final seconds of the period to make it 6-1.

“We knew that when we gave Canada a chance they would be in the game, so we had to start very strong and be sure of our game,” said Espar Llaquet.

Verica Bakoc scored five goals on five shots for Canada, which fell to 1-4 entering a classification match on Thursday.

“We’re playing a small sport in a big country and there aren’t enough people playing,” said Axelle Crevier from Canada. “I’m proud to be competing with countries like Spain that have a lot of water polo players.”

The Netherlands secured their fourth Olympic win, their only defeat coming in a penalty shootout against Australia.

Simone van de Kraats, Brigitte Sleeking, Vivian Sevenich and Lieke Rogge each scored twice on Tuesday.

“We’re really pushing each other to a higher level,” Sevenich said. “I think that showed today, and it’s not over yet.”

The Netherlands entered the fourth quarter leading 6-5. Sevenich and Rogge scored to make it 8-5 with 5:35 left in the game.

Van de Kraats helped close the gap, making the score 11-7 with 1:03 left in the game.