Tokyo, Japan - August 6 - The U.S.
Olympic Men's Water Polo Team snapped a four game losing streak in Tokyo with a
7-6 win over Italy to advance to the fifth place match. Johnny Hooper scored
the game-winner on a power play with 1:35 to play, one of his two goals on the
day. Alex Bowen led the offense with three goals while Drew Holland recorded
nine saves including a crucial penalty shot block late in the match. Team USA
will now meet Croatia in the fifth place match on Sunday at 11am local time/7pm
pacific time on August 7/10pm eastern time on August 7. Broadcast information
will be shared when available with the match live streaming on the NBC Sports
app or by clicking here. A replay of the USA-Italy match will air as part of
Olympic coverage tonight on CNBC at 8pm et/5pm pt, click here to access a
replay of the live stream.
Things started slow in this one for
Team USA as Italy took the early lead with 6:12 to play in the first quarter.
It wasn't until the 2:40 mark of the first that the United States got on the
board with an Alex Obert connect for a 1-1 match. Italy came back to take the
lead with 1:23 to play but Bowen responded, ripping the net with :51 left to make
it 2-2 going to the second period. Team USA surged ahead in the second quarter
after a Max Irving steal led to a Hooper counter attack for a 3-2 edge. Both
defenses held strong over the next few minutes until Dylan Woodhead tipped home
a rebound in close for a 4-2 lead with 2:47 to play in the half. Less than a
minute later it was Bowen converting on a penalty shot and Team USA built their
largest lead of the match at 5-2. It was short lived however, Italy came right
back with a score for a 5-3 game at intermission.
Italy battled back in the third while
holding Team USA scoreless. Pietro Figlioli opened the period with one of his
two goals on the day to make it 5-4. With just thirty seconds to play Italy
found the equalizer to make it 5-5 after three quarters. Bowen opened the
scoring in the fourth to give Team USA the lead back at 6-5. The seesaw battle
continued with Italy tying the match on a power play with 5:22 left. At the
2:10 mark Hooper was called for a penalty foul, but Holland made the crucial
save, blocking the ball with his face to keep it level at 6-6. Hooper found
redemption moments later cashing in on the power play with 1:35 left in the
game. Two final attempts by Italy were halted by the Team USA defense and they
held on for the one goal win.
Team USA went 3/9 on power plays and
1/1 on penalties while Italy went 3/17 on power plays and 0/1 on penalties.
Scoring - Stats
USA 7 (2, 3, 0, 2) A. Bowen 3, J.
Hooper 2, A. Obert 1, D. Woodhead 1
ITA 6 (2, 1, 2, 1) P. Figlioli 2, V.
Renzuto Iodice 2, M. Bodegas 1, N. Presciutti 1
Saves - USA - D. Holland 9 - ITA - M.
Del Lungo 5
6x5 - USA - 3/9 - ITA 3/17
Penalties - USA - 1/1 - ITA 0/1
Flash Quotes - Dejan Udovicic, Team
USA Head Coach
On the win over Italy -
"It's a huge win for this young
team...to beat the World Champions at the Olympic Games is an important thing.
I can't be more proud how we react after the tough loss against Spain. There is
rumors that the system is not good because the games between 5th and 8th place
should not be played out. Everyone has got their own opinion, but from our
side, for my team every game on this high level stage is important for us. We
treat this game as a final, we treat every game as a final because we don't
have enough games as the Europeans have. From my point of view this (game) is a
great reaction from our team. We just need to prepare for the game against
Croatia."
On Team USA getting motivated after
losing to Spain in the quarterfinals -
"That's excellent stuff for us,
when you prepare the game, you believe in what you're doing and you've got
trust inside the group at the end of the day, if you win...you feel that
emotion...you know what you went through to get that win. It's a huge (and)
important for us, for our mental approach, for us to show we are ready to play
in the future on a high level."
Greg Mescall
Director of Communications, USA Water
Polo
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