USA Men’s Water Polo Stops China 15-4; USA Women Down Brazil 20-2

MELBOURNE, Australia, January 10. THE USA Senior National Teams showed no signs of slowing down as both the Men and Women picked up victories on day three of the Pan Pacs. The USA Women topped Brazil 20-2 and the USA Men defeated China 15-4. The China game was a family affair as USA Men's captain Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/NYAC) took on his father Ricardo, Head Coach of the Chinese National Team. Both USA teams will take on Australia tomorrow.

The USA Women wasted little time dispatching of Brazil as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second quarter before Brazil got on the board with a score. Team USA led 8-1 at halftime thanks to two first half goals from Courtney Mathewson (Anaheim Hills, CA/UCLA/NYAC). The second half was more of the same with the United States going up 14-1 after three quarters. In the fourth Brazil scored first to make it a 14-2 match but Team USA countered with six straight goals to take the match 20-2. Tanya Gandy (San Diego, CA/UCLA/NYAC) went on a tear in the second half scoring four of her five goals in the contest. Lauren Wenger (Long Beach, CA/USC/NYAC) added three goals in the win and Sami Hill (Santa Barbara, CA/UCLA/Santa Barbara WPF) played the whole match in goal.

Team USA went 4/4 on power plays while Brazil was 0/3. Brazil did convert the lone penalty shot of the match. "The last two games have been fun to watch. We have played well defensively and have executed the areas in which we are focusing on but we have some tough opponents up next," said USA Head Coach Adam Krikorian.

The USA Men had similar success against China getting out to a 5-0 lead after the first quarter and an 8-0 lead by halftime. Azevedo scored three goals in the first half to help build the lead while Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA/Pepperdine/NYAC) scored two of his three goals in the half as well. China struck first to open the third quarter but the United States followed with three consecutive goals to go up 11-1 with 4:14 left in the third. China scored twice to close out the period but still trailed 11-3. Team USA would put the game away in the fourth outscoring China 4-1 to grab a 15-4 victory

The United States went 7/10 on power plays and 2/2 on penalty shots, both converted by Azevedo. Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/Pepperdine/NYAC) made 13 saves in the victory.

Scoring – Women – Scoresheet
USA 20 (3, 5, 6, 6) T. Gandy 5, L. Wenger 3, A. Dries 2, C. Mathewson 2, L. Silver 2, M. Seidemann 2, E. Windes 1, M. Steffens 1, H. Petri 1, J. Moss 1
BRA 2 (0, 1, 0, 1)

6×5 – USA 4/4 – BRA 0/3
Penalties – USA 0/0 – BRA 1/1

Scoring – Men – Scoresheet
USA 15 (5, 3, 3, 4) T. Azevedo 4, J. Smith 3, P. Varellas 2, P. Hudnut 1, J. Powers 1, B. Alexander 1, J. Wigo 1, R. Bailey 1, S. Buckner 1
CHN 4 (0, 0, 3, 1)

6×5 – USA 7/10
Penalties – USA 2/2
Saves – USA – M. Moses 13

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