Courtesy: USA Water Polo
BERLIN, Germany – The USA Men’s National Team fell to 0-2 at the FINA World Cup following a 14-8 loss to Serbia.
Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/NYAC), Max Irving (Long Beach, CA/UCLA/NYAC) and Ben Stevenson (Reno, NV/Pacific/Alumni) all scored two goals in the loss with McQuin Baron (North Tustin, CA/USC/NYAC) making eight saves in net.
Team USA closes out group play on Thursday when they meet South Africa at 11:30am et/8:30am pt. All matches stream live and are available on-demand on FINA TV by visiting FINATV.LIVE (subscription required). For more information on the Team USA roster, schedule and new rules that are being tested at this event, click here.
Serbia took control early posting six goals in the first quarter to open up a 6-3 lead. They kept on the offensive attack in the second quarter outscoring Team USA 3-1 to hold a 9-4 advantage at halftime. In the third quarter they put the match away scoring three unanswered goals to lead 12-4 with play moving to the fourth quarter. Team USA’s offense came to life in the final period as they outscored Serbia 4-2 but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit as Serbia took the match 14-8.
Team USA went 3/11 on power plays with penalties attempted while Serbia was 3/4 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties.
Scoring
USA – 8 (3. 1, 0, 4) A. Bowen 2, M. Irving 2, B. Stevenson 2, N. Carniglia 1, B. Hallock 1
SRB – 14 (6, 3, 3, 2)
Saves – USA – M. Baron 8
6×5 – USA – 3/11 – SRB – 3/4
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – SRB 2-2