Team USA Men’s Water Polo Sweeps China at FINA Intercontinental Tournament

SHANGHAI, China, May 29. THE USA Men’s National Team opened the FINA Intercontinental Tournament with a 14-4 victory over China. Bret Bonanni (Huntington Beach, CA/Stanford/Stanford) scored four goals to lead the offense while McQuin Baron (North Tustin, CA/Mater Dei HS/United) and Jon Sibley (Lafayette, CA/California/Lamorinda) combined for 15 saves in the victory. Team USA is back in action on Wednesday when they meet a second China team in an exhibition match that won’t count towards tournament standings. They close out group play with a match against Brazil on Thursday.

The United States took command of this game early, taking a 4-2 lead after the first and a 9-2 lead at halftime. They continued to pour it on in the third period going ahead 12-3 and closed things out with two more goals in the fourth for a 14-4 victory. Team USA went 6/7 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots while China was just 2/7 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty shot.

Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/Stanford) scored three goals and John Mann (Newport Beach, CA/California/NYAC) added two goals in the victory.

Anthony Daboub (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/Bruin) has been added to the roster for this event as an injury replacement for Chancellor Ramirez (Pasadena, CA/UCLA/Rose Bowl WPC).

The USA Men’s National will be hosting Serbia in a four game exhibition series this June 4-8 in Northern California. Tickets for all four matches are now on sale and can be purhased by clicking here.

Scoring
USA 14 (4, 5, 3, 2) B. Bonanni 4, A. Bowen 3, J. Mann 2, A. Daboub 1, A. Obert 1, J. Samuels 1, N. McConnell 1. T. Dunstan 1
CHN 4 (2, 0, 1, 1)
Saves – USA – M. Baron 12, J. Sibley 3
6×5 – USA 6/7 – CHN 2/7
Penalties – USA – 1/1 – CHN 0/0

The USA Men’s National Team then defeated China “B” 14-7 in an exhibition match played during the FINA Intercontinental Tournament. The match, which will not count towards group standings, saw Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/Stanford) and Josh Samuels(Villa Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC) score three goals each in the victory. Jon Sibley (Lafayette, CA/California/Lamorinda) and McQuin Baron (North Tustin, CA/Mater Dei HS/United) combined for 10 saves in net. The United States returns to action in the tournament on Thursday when they meet Brazil in the final match of group play.

The match was even after the first period with both teams tied at 2-2. The game changed in the second and third periods. In the second, Team USA outscored China 2-0, and then in the third they outscored China 7-2 to hold a commanding 11-4 lead gong to the fourth. In the final period the teams were even with three goals apiece but the damage had been done and the United States came away winners at 14-7.

Power plays were not a factor in this match as Team USA went 0/2 and China went 0/6.

Scoring
USA 14 (2, 2, 7, 3) A. Bowen 3, J. Samuels 3, A. Daboub 2, A. Obert 1, M. Rosenthal 1, B. Bonanni 1, N. McConnell 1, J. Kimbell 1, J. Mann 1
CHN 7 (2, 0, 2, 3)
Saves – USA – J. Sibley 7, M. Baron 3
6×5 – USA – 0/2 – CHN 0/6
Penalties – USA 0/0 – CHN 0/0

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

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