USA Men Edge Australia On Bonanni’s Goal In 12 Shootout Win

Claremont, CA – May 20 – A capacity crowd at Pomona-Pitzer’s Haldeman Pool was treated to another down to the wire finish between the USA Men’s National Team and Australia as Team USA topped the visiting Aussies 12-11 in a shootout. After the first four shooters for both sides had made their shots, goalkeeper McQuin Baron (North Tustin, CA/USC/Regency) halted the final attempt by Australia’s Joel Swift. That was followed byBret Bonanni (Huntington Beach, CA/Stanford/NYC) connecting on the penalty shot to pick up the one goal victory. Baron and Drew Holland (Orinda, CA/Stanford/Stanford) split each half with Baron working the cage during the shootout. Bonanni and Josh Samuels(Villa Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC) led the offense with two goals in regulation. The two teams will meet again on Sunday at USC in Los Angeles, CA at 1pm in a match televised live on NBC Sports Network. Get all the details on the series by clicking here.

Team USA got off to a good start grabbing 2-1 lead early behind goals from Alex Bowen(Santee, CA/Stanford/NYAC) and Alex Roelse (Maarssen, Netherlands/UCLA/Bruin) after the first period. Australia took control in the second outscoring Team USA 3-1 to take a 4-3 lead at intermission.

In the third period Team USA started to rally as Obert scored first to tie the match at 4-4. Australia responded with two straight from Joe Kayes for a 6-4 advantage with 3:37 to play in the third. Bonanni scored to make it 6-5 and then Samuels found the net with seven seconds to play tying the game at 6-6 going to the fourth.

Early in the fourth Australia went back and front on a score from Aidan Roach but Samuels came back with a goal around the three minute mark to tie the match at 7-7. Both sides had opportunities over the remaining three minutes but failed to score leading to the extra session.

This match was the first meeting for the two since last Sunday when they played for gold at the FINA Intercontinental Tournament. Team USA won the match 10-9 on a shot from Luca Cupido (Newport Beach, CA/California/Newport) with just two seconds to play.

Scoring
USA 12 (2, 1, 3, 1) (5) J. Samuels 2, B. Bonanni 2, A. Obert 1, A. Roelse 1, A. Bowen 1
AUS 11 (1, 3, 2, 1) (4)  J. Cotteril 2, J. Kayes 2, A. Roach 2, J. Swift 1
Shootout:
USA: L. Cupido 1, T. Azevedo 1, J. Samuels 1, A. Bowen 1, B. Bonanni 1
AUS: R. Campbell 1, R. Howden 1, A. Roach 1, J. Cotteril 1, J. Swift X