Serbia Defeats USA Men 17-9 On Day Two Of Water Polo World Cup

ORADEA, Romania, July 28. THE USA Men's Senior National Team fell to Serbia 17-9 on the second day of the FINA World Cup in Romania. The team drops to 1-1 with Croatia on the schedule for Thursday to close out group play. Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/NYAC), Michael Sharf (Orinda, CA/Olympic Club), and Peter Varellas (Moraga, CA/Olympic Club) all tallied two scores for the United States in the losing effort.

Team USA scored to open the game on a goal from Tim Hutten (Seal Beach, CA/Newport WPF) but after that it was all Serbia. The Serbians ran off three straight goals to take a 3-1 lead after the first. The United States would get to within 4-2 in the second quarter on a Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/Newport WPF) goal but Serbia again answered with two straight scores for a 6-2 lead at halftime.

The third quarter was where Serbia put the game away as they built up a 10-3 lead by the end of the period. That gave way to a ridiculously high scoring fourth quarter that saw a combined 13 goals. The USA offense found their stride in this quarter as they scored six of the 13 goals, however the defense struggled allowing 7 goals. With that Serbia was able to maintain their lead and came away winners at 17-9.

Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/NYAC) and Andy Stevens (Villa Park, CA/NYAC) split time in the cage to record eight saves. The United States went just 4/14 on power plays while Serbia was 6/7. Both teams converted their lone penalty shots tries. "Defensively we never got into the game and we cannot beat anyone playing defense like that," said USA Head Coach Terry Schroeder.

Scoring

USA 9 (1, 1, 1, 6) T. Azevedo 2, M. Sharf 2, P. Varellas 2, T. Hutten 1, R. Baily 1, J. Smith 1
SRB 17 (3, 3, 4, 7)

Saves – USA – M. Moses 6 – A. Stevens 2
6×5 – USA – 4/14 – SRB 6/7
Penalties – USA 1/1 – SRB 1/1

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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x