Tokyo, Japan - July 25 - The U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team rallied back from a three-goal deficit in the second quarter to defeat Japan 15-13 in their opening match at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Alex Bowen delivered five goals to lead all scorers, Ben Hallock added three goals and Drew Holland recorded nine saves in the win. To watch a replay of the match, visit the NBC Sports app or click here. A replay will air as part of Olympics coverage on NBCSN starting at 8pm et/5pm pt on July 25. Team USA returns to the pool on July 27 against South Africa at 10am local time (9pm et/6pm pt on July 26). The match is scheduled to air live on CNBC in Olympics coverage starting at 8pm et/5pm pt. Live streaming is available by clicking here.
Team USA took the lead early at 1-0
behind a Bowen penalty shot score. Japan countered with two straight goals to
take a 2-1 advantage. The teams traded goals the rest of the quarter as Hallock
followed to tie the match at 2-2. Japan went ahead 3-2 before Bowen closed the
period with another for a 3-3 match going to the second. In the second quarter
Japan jumped out to a 5-3 lead, then went ahead 7-4 with 3:29 left on a Seiya
Adachi score. That was Japan's largest lead of the match as Team USA spent the
next quarter and a half on the comeback trail. Hallock scored twice to make it
7-6 but Japan answered to go ahead 8-6. Bowen had the final word in the quarter
to make it 8-7 at halftime.
Japan went in front 10-8 early in the
third quarter and then Team USA made their big push. Marko Vavic connected in
close for his first Olympic goal followed moments later by fellow USC teammate
Hannes Daube hitting on his first Olympic goal and a 10-10 game. Bowen closed
the scoring in the third on a power play connect with just :15 to play giving
Team USA the lead back at 11-10, their first lead since 1-0.
In the fourth, Team USA kept the
offense humming. Max Irving broke through with his first Olympic goal followed
moments later by an outside strike by Luca Cupido for a 13-10 lead. Japan
wouldn't quit as they scored two of the next three goals to make it 14-12 with
3:43 to play. Adachi came back with his
third to make it 14-13 with just 1:49 to play. Johnny Hooper silenced any
thoughts of a tie game burying a power play goal, his first as an Olympian, to
give Team USA a cushion at 15-13 with :26 to play. The Team USA defense made a
stop on the next Japanese possession and the victory was secured.
Team USA went 6/13 on power plays and
1/1 on penalty shots while Japan went 5/7 on power plays and 4/4 on penalty
shots.
Scoring - Stats
USA 15 (3, 4, 4, 3) A. Bowen 5, B.
Hallock 3, L. Cupido 2, J. Hooper 1, M. Vavic 1, A. Obert 1, H. Daube 1, M.
Irving 1
JPN 13 (3, 5, 2, 3) S. Adachi 3, M.
Shiga 3, Y. Inaba 3, A. Arai 2, K. Araki 1, T. Suzuki 1
Saves - USA - D. Holland 9 - JPN - K.
Tanamura 11
6x5 - USA - 6/13 - JPN - 5/7
Penalty Shots - USA - 1/1 - JPN 4/4
Greg Mescall
Director of Communications, USA Water
Polo
Michael Phelps Teaches Swimming
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