Montenegro Tops USA Men 11-9 In Shootout At FINA Water Polo World League Super Final

NIS, Serbia, July 15. MONTENEGRO topped the USA Men's National Team 11-9 in a shootout finish on day three of the FINA World League Super Final. The loss is the first of the tourney for Team USA and they finish group play at 2-1 with Croatia on the schedule for Friday in the quarterfinals at 4pm local Serbia time (7am pacific time). Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/Newport WPF) led the United States in scoring with three goals while Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/NYAC) added two scores. Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/NYAC) went the distance in the cage stopping seven shots.

The United States got off to a good start leading 2-1 after the first quarter but Montenegro battled back to grab a 4-3 lead at halftime. In the third quarter each team notched a score to leave it a one goal game in favor of Montenegro at 5-4 going to the fourth quarter. In the fourth the United States rallied with three goals to just two from Montenegro to help force the extra session of penalty shots.

Tied at 7-7 after regulation the teams entered into a penalty shootout with Montenegro able to convert four penalty shots to just two from the United States to take the 11-9 victory. Team USA went just 2-11 on power plays which Coach Terry Schroeder pointed to as a struggle, "We did enough things to win. We just failed to convert our 6 on 5. Tough to win when you go 2 for 11."

Other scorers for the United States included Brian Alexander (Santa Ana, CA/Olympic Club), Tim Hutten (Seal Beach, CA/Newport WPF), Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA/Newport WPF), and JW Krumpholz (Santa Ana, CA/NYAC).

Quarters: 1:2, 3:1, 1:1, 2:3 – 4:2 penalty
Referees: Gomez (ITA), Bock (GER)
Extra Man: Montenegro 11, USA 12
Teams:
MONTENEGRO: Zdravko RADIĆ, Draško BRGULJUAN, Vjekoslav PASKOVIĆ, Damjan DANILOVIĆ 1, Nikola VUKČEVIĆ, Milan TIČIĆ, Mladjan JANOVIĆ 1, Nikola JANOVIĆ, Aleksandar IVOVIĆ 2, Boris ZLOKOVIĆ 2, Vladimir GOJKOVIĆ, Predrag JOKIĆ 1, Miloš ŠĆEPANOVIĆ.
Head Coach: Petar POROBIĆ
USA: Merrill MOSES, Peter VARELLAS, Michael SHARF, Jeff POWERS 1, Adam WRIGHT, Brian ALEXANDER 1, Shea BUCKNER, Tony AZEVEDO 1, Ryan BAILEY 2, Tim HUTTEN 1, Jesse SMITH 1, James KRUMPHOLZ, Andy STEVENS.
Head Coach: Terry SCHROEDER

6×5 – USA 2-11
Saves – USA – M. Moses 7

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.

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