Montenegro Downs Team USA Men’s Water Polo, 12-11

LOS ALAMITOS, California, July 5. DESPITE staging a late fourth quarter rally the USA Men's Senior National Team fell short to Montenegro 12-11 in the last of three game series. The match played in front of a patriotic home crowd at the USA Water Polo National Training Center in Los Alamitos, CA saw the United States come back from a three goal deficit in the forth to have a chance to tie in the waning seconds but Montenegro delivered a stop to preserve the victory.

Team USA got out to a solid start with a score from Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/Newport WPF) to post a 1-0 lead. Montenegro answered to tie the match and they then took the lead at 2-1 before the United States answered with a Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA/Newport WPF) to even the match at 2-2. The see-saw battle continued into the second quarter when Peter Varellas (Moraga, CA/Olympic Club) tacked on two scores and Jeff Tyrell (Granite Bay, CA/NYAC) and Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/NYAC) added scores to allow the United States to keep pace. Montenegro continued their offensive efforts and kept a one goal lead going into intermission at 7-6.

The second half was more of the same for the Montenegro offense as they were able to keep the United States at bay. Team USA would continue to close within a goal only to be pushed back out to two scores repeatedly. Azevedo and Bailey found the cage in the third period and it was 10-8 going to the fourth. In the final frame Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA/NYAC) scored the first goal for a 10-9 game. Then Montenegro built a 12-9 lead before the United States started their comeback.

Azevedo scored again along with Smith which set up the United States trailing by just one going into the final minute. A lost possession by Montenegro turned into an opportunity for Team USA but a late shot went high of the cage and Montenegro hung on for the win. Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/NYAC) went the distance in net tallying 8 saves.

The match will air on Versus this Thursday at 7pm est/4pm pst. Visit Versus.com to locate the channel on your cable provider.

Scoring

USA 11 (3, 3, 2, 3) T. Azevedo 3, R. Bailey 2, J. Smith 2, P. Varellas 2, J. Powers 1, J. Tyrell 1
MNE 12 (4, 3, 3, 2) A. Ivovic 5, D. Brguljan 3, B. Zlokovic 2, V. Pauoxic 1, N. Janovic 1

Saves – USA – M. Moses 8 – MNE – Z. Radic 4

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use