US Water Polo Open: New York AC, Olympic Club Advance

NEWPORT BEACH, calif., Nov. 3. AT 6'8 and 250 lbs., former USA NationalTeam member Ryan Flynn is a large presence in the water. But stack him against current USA National Team member Dan Klatt at 6'5 and 200 lbs. and the table turns quickly.

In the match of the day, Olympic Club and Newport Water Polo Foundation battled to a 5-5 tie. Olympic had three former USA Olympians while Newport played one
former USA Olympian and three USA National Team players. There was plenty of "clanging and banging" according to Newport's Mark Hunt, especially at the
two-meter position. Flynn and Klatt battled every position inside, which got so physical that on three occasions Flynn was tangled up under water and completely lifted Klatt out of the water on his side.

"When playing these National Team guys, you have to use every advantage you can," said Flynn. "Klatt is a strong defender and it was a battle all game."

In the game, Olympic Club jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Brian Heifferon lit up from way outside on a power play advantage and Flynn followed up with an inside scoop shot goal. Klatt answered back with Newport's first goal just before the first period's final buzzer to thin the lead to one.

In the second period, Olympic Club scored on an inside shot by Peter Stern to pull ahead 3-1 but Newport's Jeff Andrews threw an outside skip shot that dribbled in to pull Newport close, 3-2. Newport countered on its following possession but missed a key inside pass to tie the game.

In the third period, Newport's Mark Hunt bee-bee'd a cross cage bar-in to tie the game 3-3, but Olympic Club's Chase scored inside on the next possession to
pull ahead 4-3. Two and a half minutes went by until Newport's Mike Evans, a three time USA Olympian cut to the post and fired a cross cage shot to even the score 4-4. Newport then took the lead 5-4 on Jerry Smith's backhand from the two-meter position.

Newport held onto the lead just two minutes into the final period, when former USA Olympian Alex Rousseau scored on a last second shot on the thirty-five second clock to tie the game 5-5. Both teams battled the rest of the game. Newport missed on an inside pass on a power play advantage to take the game and then Olympic Club missed on an inside shot off a counter attack to do the same in the final minute, to keep the score 5-5 at the final buzzer.

Olympic Club advanced over Newport in the group on point difference throughout the tournament.

In another tight match, New York Athletic Club "A" held off a relentless Long Beach Shore counter attack to win that game 9-6. LB Shore jumped ahead 3-2 against NYAC "A" in the first period, but were shut out in the second period while NYAC scored three unanswered goals to go ahead 5-3. NYAC added three more
goals in the quarter to widen the lead and take the victory.

NYAC "A" had another tough match their second game of the day against Calgary, which NYAC won 10-7. Calgary, made up of five eight Canadian National Players, played a very physical game typical of European style that many NYAC members hadn't seen in a couple of years.

The result were a pair of eye gashes and a half
dozen scratched up bodies.

"I told the guys that Calgary was not intimidated by our roster or our size," said NYAC "A" coach Scott Schulte. "After scouting the team, I knew what kind of
game it was going to be and told my guys, especially Gill in the two meter, to be careful."

Steve Gill and Peter Janov were the two with the eye gashes, and after the game with a butterfly Band-Aid closing the wound, neither complained.

"It's part of the game," said Janov. "That's what happens when you play European style water polo."

LB Shore advanced to the top four over Calgary on point difference, after Calgary missed a key counter attack goal that would have thinned their lead to two against NYAC and advanced them to the top four.

Three teams played their last game on Saturday. NYAC
"B" ended up 9th in the tournament, while the Doggies placed 10th and Windy City finished 11th. The final round of the US Open begins Sunday at 8 a.m., with games for the medals starting at 3 p.m.

Results from Saturday:

1 2 3 4 F
NYAC "A" 2 3 3 1 9
LB Shore 3 0 1 2 6

NYAC "A": Gill 4, Burke, 1, Janov 3, Kredell 1
LB Shore: Brown 2, Dolley 1, Netherton 1, Kocar 1, Hylton 1

1 2 3 4 F F
Cal Baptist 2 0 0 1 3
Calgary 4 4 2 3 13

Cal Baptist: Milic 1, Kunac 2
Calgary: Geltha 1, Hardisty 2, Girad 1, Cosic 2, Deffet 1, Murtha 1, Thompson 1,
Nathanial Miller 3, Gordon 1

1 2 3 4 F
Windy City 0 1 1 2 4
Doggies 3 4 4 4 15

WC: Kulcyacki 2, McShane 2
Doggies: Suazo 3, Tavares 3, Grady J 2, Grady T 1, Rodriguez 1, Simon 2, Turner
2

1 2 3 4 F F
Newport 1 2 2 3 8
Vancouver 1 2 1 0 4

Newport: Andrews 1, Evans 3, Newland 1, Klatt 2, Coffman 1
Vancouver: Lark 1, Lazeravic 1, Sabo 2

1 2 3 4 F F
CHAWP 1 2 4 0 7
Olympic 4 4 4 7 19

CHAWP: Blizzard 2, Sattler 1, Durbin 2, Guerrero 2
OC: Rousseau 1, Flynn 3, Heifferon 5, Everist 1, Klass 1, Stern 2, Kittridge 5,
Chase 1

1 2 3 4 F F
NYAC "B" 1 4 1 2 8
Doggies 0 0 2 1 5

NYAC "B": Russey 1, Judge 2, O'Connell 2, Tocan? 1, O'Sullivan 1, Incecam 1
Doggies: Rodriguez 1, Reyes 1, Simon 2, Zapatka 1

1 2 3 4 F F
Cal Baptist 1 1 3 0 5
LB Shore 4 8 3 2 17

CB: Comfort 1, Spankle 1, Milic 1, Barry 1, Wager 1
LB Shore: Felix 3, Brown 6, Dolley 2, Lindtrom 1, Vranie 2, Kucur 2, Hylton 1

1 2 3 4 F F
NYAC "A" 3 3 3 1 10
Calgary 0 3 2 2 7

NYAC "A": Gill 1, Burke 1, Wigo 1, Janov 1, Cizmic 2, Biro 1, Satchkov 2
Calgary: Felthma 1, Gardisty 1, Cosic 1, Deffett 1, Miller 1, Gordon 2

1 2 3 4 F F
CHAWP 2 3 2 2 9
Vancouver 4 6 4 2 16

CHAWP: Gall 2, Blizzard 2, Clements 1, Guerrero 4
Vancouver: Lazeravic 4, Mitchell 5, Wood 2, Sabo 3

1 2 3 4 F F
Newport 1 1 3 0 5
Olympic Club 1 1 1 5 5

Newport: Andrews 1, Evans 1, Hunt 1, Smith 1, Klatt 1
O.C.: Rousseau 1, Flynn 1, Heifferon 1, Klass 1, Chase 1

1 2 3 4 F F
Windy City: 0 1 0 4 5
NYAC "B" 3 2 3 0 8

WC: Flores 1, Kulczyzcki 2, Cruz 1, Anderson 1
NYAC "B": Haggerty 1, O'Connell 1, O'Sullivan 3, McNulty 2, Morris 1, Brushuyez
1

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