New York A.C., Newport Lead at US Men’s Water Polo Nationals

CORONA DEL MAR, Calif., Aug. 2. SIXTEEN of the nation's top men's water polo clubs are competing for the national crown this wweekend at Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor High Schools in California.

Here's how things stand after two days of competition:

Participating Teams (Records)
Group A Group B Group C Group D
New York Athletic Club (3-0) Newport Water Polo "A" (3-0) Golden Bear Water Polo "A" (2-1) Olympic Club (1-2)
Stanford Water Polo (2-1) Bruin Water Polo (2-1) Newport Water Polo "B" (1-2)

New York Athletic Club "B" (3-0) Big Valley Water Polo (1-2) Lion Water Polo (1-2) De Anza Water Polo (0-3) Sunset – San Diego (2-1) Navy Water Polo (0-3) Santa Barbara (0-3) Malibu Waves (3-0) Golden Bear Water Polo "B" (0-3)

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2
CORONA DEL MAR HIGH SCHOOL

TIME GAME #
8:00 AM 13. STANFORD WPF 12 VS NAVY AC 2
9:00 AM 14. BRUIN WATER POLO 12 VS SANTA BARBARA 2
10:00 AM 15. NEWPORT WPF "B" 7 VS MALIBU WAVES 8
11:00 AM 16. NEW YORK AC "B" 10 VS GOLDEN BEAR WP "B" 5
12:00 PM 17. NEW YORK AC "A" 6 VS STANFORD WPF 5
1:00 PM 18. NEWPORT WPF "A" 9 VS BRUIN WP 5
2:00 PM 19. GOLDEN BEAR WP "A" 8 VS NEWPORT WPF "B" 5
3:00 PM 20. OLYMPIC CLUB 2 VS NEW YORK AC "B" 5
4:00 PM 21. BIG VALLEY WP 9 VS NAVY AC 4
5:00 PM 22. LION WP 8 VS SANTA BARBARA 5
6:00 PM 23. DE ANZA WP 2 VS MALIBU WAVES 13
7:00 PM 24. SUNSET SAN DIEGO VS GOLDEN BEAR WP "A"

Game 13: Stanford Water Polo 12, Navy Athletic Club 2
2000 Olympian Tony Azevedo and Greg Crum combined for seven goals as Stanford disposed of Navy, 12-2. The score was tied at 1-1 early in the first quarter, but a score by Azevedo with 3:05 remaining in the frame gave Stanford the lead for good. Azevedo scored four and Crum three, while Nick Ellis notched 10 saves in goal.

Game 14: Bruin Water Polo 12, Santa Barbara 2
Brett Ormsby kept gunning for Bruin, totaling four goals in a 12-2 win over Santa Barbara. Ted Peck, David Pietsch, John Briscoe each had two apiece for Bruin, while goalkeeper Joe Axelrad stuffed seven shots in goal. Brian Alexander scored both Santa Babara goals in the loss.

Game 15: Malibu Waves 8, Newport Water Polo "B" 7
A score by Karl Niehaus with 3:15 remaining broke a 7-7 tie and ended up being the game-winner as Malibu topped Newport "B", 8-7. Jordan Keitel led Malibu with three goals, while Barry Dreason connected on three for Newport "B".

Game 16: New York Athletic Club "B" 10, Golden Bear "B" 5
Mikhail Klochkov connected on four of seven shot attempts to help NYAC "B" to a 10-5 win over Golden Bear "B". Merrill Moses had a solid outing in goal, compiling 10 saves for New York. Alex Niehenke led Golden Bear with three goals. Golden Bear keeper Nate Bennett had five saves.

Game 17: New York Athletic Club "A" 6, Stanford Water Polo 5
Larry Felix played the role of hero for NYAC, the defending champions, scoring the game-winning goal against Stanford with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The goal by Felix shattered a 5-5 impasse. Stanford had tied the game on a goal by Mike Derse with 6:17 to go in the quarter, but Felix's goal was enough for NYAC, who held on for the duration of the game. Goalkeeper Dan Hackett, a two-time Olympian, collected 10 saves in the win for NYAC, while USA National Team captain scored two goals.

Game 18: Newport Water Polo "A" 9, Bruin Water Polo 5
Newport outscored Bruin 3-0 in the final quarter to pull out a 9-5 win. Ryan Bailey scored three goals, all of them coming in the first half, while Newport goalkeeper Genai Kerr and Bruin counterpart Brandon Brooks each had 10 saves in the net.

Game 19: Golden Bear "A" 8, Newport Water Polo "B" 5
Will Quist, Attila Bandihy, and Greg Panswek each scored two goals for Golden Bear, who outlasted Newport "B" by a score of 8-5. Dreason Barry buried three goals to lead the Newport offense in the loss.

Game 20: New York Athletic Club "B" 5, Olympic Club 2
The Olympic Club was unable to get past the NYAC "B" defense, or Merrill Moses in goal, as the East Coasters held on for a 5-2 win. Merrill Moses amassed 14 saves in the win, five of them in the final quarter, frustrating the Olympic Club offense. Jack Kocur led a balanced NYAC offense with a pair of goals.

Game 21: Big Valley Water Polo 9, Navy 4
Big Valley outscored Navy 4-1 in the second half to cruise out to a 9-4 victory. Seven different players busted into the score column for Big Valley and four players accounted for each of Navy's scores. Eddie Wisniewski and Danny Johnson each scored two for Big Valley.

Game 22: Lion Water Polo 8, Santa Barbara Water Polo 5
Kevin Witt tallied four goals in Lion's 8-5 win over Santa Barbara. Witt's two fourth quarter goals helped Lion stave off a Santa Barbara rally. Lion netminder Kevin Paulsen picked up eight saves in goal, while Santa Barbara's Paul Vacquier had nine.

Game 23: Malibu Water Polo 13, De Anza Water Polo 2
Malibu jockeyed out to a 9-0 halftime lead before closing De Anza, 13-2. Mike Hausmann, Jordan Keitel, and Jeremy Grubbs each scored two goals in the win for Malibu. Malibu used 10 different players to score its 13 goals.

Game 24: Sunset San Diego 6, Golden Bear "B" 5
In what worked out to be the most exciting game of the day, Sunset and Golden Bear "B" played the clock to a 5-5 tie with 10 seconds remaining. Golden Bear's final shot attempt was saved by Sunset goalkeeper Lance Onken and tossed the length of the pool into an open net for the win. Onken lunged far left to stop a Golden Bear shot, picked up the ball, and launched it into Golden Bear's cage at the other end for a 6-5 win as time expired. Onken had eight saves on the day to compliment his one goal.

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