Croatia Over USA Men 13-11 In FINA Water Polo World League Super Final Quarterfinals

NIS, Serbia, July 16. A fourth quarter rally proved to be not enough as the United States men fell 13-11 to Croatia earlier today in the quarterfinals of the FINA World League Super Final. The loss puts Team USA into the fifth through eighth place bracket with a match against either Serbia or China on Saturday. Team captain Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/NYAC) led the offensive attack for the United States with three goals in the loss. Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/NYAC) played the whole way in net with seven saves.

Croatia jumped out a strong start posting five goals in the opening period to take a 5-2 lead after the first quarter. In the second the United States kept pace scoring three goals to three from Croatia. Trailing 8-5 at halftime the United States kept looking to chip away in this high scoring affair posting four goals in the third quarter. That was answered by five scores from Croatia and they built a 13-9 lead going into the final stanza. An attempt at a fourth quarter rally fell short for the United States as they mustered just two goals and came away on the losing end at 13-11.

The United States went 7/14 on power plays in the losing effort. Other goal scorers for Team USA included Brian Alexander (Santa Ana, CA/Olympic Club), Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/Newport WPF), JW Krumpholz (Santa Ana, CA/NYAC), and Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA/NYAC) all with two goals each. The USA will meet Serbia or China next and earlier this week the United States defeated China 11-5.

Quarters:2:5, 3:3, 4:5, 2:0
Referees: Naumov (RUS), Bock (GER)
Extra Man: USA 12, Croatia 6
Teams:
USA: Merrill MOSES, Peter VARELLAS, Michael SHARF, Jeff POWERS, Adam WRIGHT, Brian ALEXANDER 2, Shea BUCKNER, Tony AZEVEDO 3, Ryan BAILEY 2, Tim HUTTEN, Jesse SMITH 2, James KRUMPHOLZ 2, Andy STEVENS.
Head Coach: Terry SCHROEDER
CROATIA: Marko NIŽIĆ, Damir BURIĆ, Miho BOŠKOVIĆ 2, Nikša DOBUD 1, Maro JOKOVIĆ 3, Frano KARAČ 2, Pavo MARKOVIĆ, Andro BUŠLJE, Sandro SUKNO 3, Petar MUSLIM 1, Fran PAŠKVALIN 1, Paulo OBRADOVIĆ, Josip PAVIĆ.
Head Coach: Ratko RUDIĆ

Saves – M. Moses 7
6×5 – USA 7/14

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