LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., July 24. MERRILL Moses held on to a tie with Australia in the final game for the U.S. at the FINA World League Semifinals in Los Alamitos, Calif. With the score tied at five a piece, Moses denied a pair of shots by the Aussies on Sunday. The U.S, Australia and France advanced out of their side of the bracket into the FINA World League Super Finals in Athens, Greece from Aug. 2-6. In earlier games, France beat Brazil, 12-6, and China defeated Canada 6-4.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pretty much dominated the whole game,\u201d Team USA head coach Ricardo Azevedo said. \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t put it away. We have been lifting and training this whole time because we were hoping that we would win this so our preparation would be ready just in time for Athens in two weeks. It was a chance but a chance that I think will pay off. The key thing that I am proud of is to have the lead, give up the lead and still come back and win. It shows a lot of personality on the players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adam Wright opened the game and was the lone scorer of the first period. Moses, in goal, successfully barred Australia from any opportunities in the first period, 1-0. Things heated up in quarter two beginning with an open-cage shot by Australia\u2019s Peter Tresise, who scored when Moses came out of the cage to steal the ball at set, 1-1. Jeff Powers scored twice in the second period, first from set and then off a power play pass from Tony Azevedo on the wing. Timonthy Neesham (AUS) helped the Aussies to one more goal before the half, 5-2. Early in the third, Peter Varellas shot on a player advantage, but missed. <\/p>\n
On the following counter, he was ejected and Neesham (AUS) scored, 5-3. Later in the quarter, Kevin Witt was excluded and Moses stopped Australia\u2019s shot. On the turnaround, Powers earned a penalty, but Tony Azevedo was unable to convert. Daniel Marsden slipped one past Moses at the end of the quarter for a one-goal game, 5-4. Rick Merlo fouled out in the beginning of the final period and Trent Franklin (AUS) tied the score, 5-5 (6:25). Later in the quarter, the USA had a final scoring opportunity when Wright drew a penalty at set. Powers did not convert, forcing the game into a shootout. Moses knocked down two five-meter shots to lead the U.S. to a win. All four U.S. scorers converted. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Tony Azevedo claimed Most Valuable Player honors, while France\u2019s Frederic Audon and Bry Benoit picked up top scorer and top goalkeeper accolades.<\/p>\n
\u201cTony has more shots in his repertoire than I know,\u201d Moses said. \u201cYou have to have a lot of confident on your lob shot to throw it in (a shootout). That\u2019s why I love having him on my team because that makes me a better goalie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stay tuned to the USA Water Polo website for results from the FINA World League Super Finals in Athens, Greece. Team top teams from Los Alamitos will be facing Serbia and Montenegro, Spain and Greece, who placed top three at the semifinals in Spain. For more information, visit www.fina.org. <\/p>\n
FINAL POINTS:
\n1. USA 14
\n2. AUS 13
\n3. FRA 9
\n4. CHN 6
\n5. CAN 3
\n6. BRA 0<\/p>\n
MVP: Tony Azevedo (USA)
\nTOP SCORER: Frederic Audon (FRA)
\nTOP GOALKEEPER: Bry Benoit (FRA)<\/p>\n
BOX SCORES:
\nUSA \u2013 1 4 0 0 \u2013 5
\nAUS -0 2 2 1 – 5<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
\nUSA \u2013 J. Powers 2, A. Wright 1, K. Witt 1, T. Azevedo 1
\nAUS \u2013 D. Marsden 1, T. Franklin 1, P. Tresise 1, T. Neesham 2<\/p>\n
GOALIE SAVES:
\nUSA \u2013 M. Moses 8
\nAUS \u2013 L. Trettel 5<\/p>\n
PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
\nUSA \u2013 4 of 6, 0 of 2 (penalty)
\nAUS \u2013 4 of 12<\/p>\n
ATTENDANCE: 650
\nDELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
\nREFEREES: Vanhems, Patelli<\/p>\n
BRA \u2013 2 2 1 1 – 6
\nFRA – 3 4 1 4 – 12<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
\nBRA \u2013 R. Seabra 1, M. Santos 2, F. Franco 2, F. Silva 1
\nFRA \u2013 A. Aguliar 1, A. Jablowski 1, F. Audon 5, T. Simon 1, J. Faury 1, A. Gallet 1, R. Blary 1, Y. Clay 1<\/p>\n
GOALIE SAVES:
\nBRA \u2013 A. Cordeiro 9
\nFRA \u2013R. Garsau 12<\/p>\n
PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
\nBRA \u2013 2 of 7
\nFRA -4 of 6<\/p>\n
ATTENDANCE: 300
\nDELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
\nREFEREES: Ni, Hart<\/p>\n
CAN \u2013 1 0 1 2 – 4
\nCHN \u2013 1 2 0 3 – 6<\/p>\n
INDIVIDUAL SCORING:
\nCAN \u2013 T. Marks 1, D. Stein 1, A. Feltham 1, N. Miller 1
\nCHN \u2013L. Yu 3, J., Xie 1, Z. Han 1, S. Liu 1<\/p>\n
GOALIE SAVES:
\nCAN \u2013 R. Randall 5
\nCHN \u2013 W. Ge 12<\/p>\n
PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
\nCAN \u2013 1 of 9
\nCHN \u2013 3 of 11<\/p>\n
ATTENDANCE: 200
\nDELEGATE: Gianni Lonzi, Bill Frady
\nREFEREES: Corb, Koganov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., July 24. MERRILL Moses held on to a tie with Australia in the final game for the U.S. at the FINA World League Semifinals in Los Alamitos,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n