The USA Men’s Senior National Team took home the gold medal at the FINA Intercontinental Tournament after defeating Brazil 11-7. The victory marked a six game winning streak for Team USA ahead of their four game series with Serbia starting this Wednesday in Northern California. As for the match against Brazil, the United States had a balanced scoring attack with seven different players finding the back of the net. McQuin Baron(North Tustin, CA/Mater Dei HS/United) went the distance in net recording nine saves. By reaching the medal round of the FINA Intercontinental Tournament, Team USA clinched a berth in the upcoming FINA World League Super Final, set for June 14-21 in Dubai.
Just days after topping Brazil by a single goal, Team USA again had their hands full with the Brazilians who took a 4-3 lead after the first period. In the second, the United States rebounded with three unanswered goals of their own to take a 6-4 lead at halftime. In the third, the two teams were even at two goals apiece, leaving Team USA ahead 8-6 going into the fourth period. In the final eight minutes Team USA outscored Brazil 3-1 to come away with the four goal victory.
The United States went 6/13 on power play opportunities and 1/1 on penalty shots while Brazil was 5/10 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty shot. Four different players scored two goals for the United States including Alex Obert (Stockton, CA/Pacific/Sac Polo), Alex Bowen(Santee, CA/Stanford/Stanford), John Mann (Newport Beach, CA/California/NYAC), and Josh Samuels (Villa Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC).
Now Team USA heads to Northern California where they will host Serbia in a four game exhibition series starting this Wednesday June 4 and finishing on Sunday, June 8. Tickets for all four matches are currently on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
Scoring
USA 11 (3, 3, 2, 3) J. Mann 2, A. Bowen 2, J. Samuels 2, A. Obert 2, T. Dunstan 1, M. Rosenthal 1, B. Bonanni 1
BRA 7 (4, 0, 2, 1)
Saves – USA – M. Baron 9
6×5 – USA 6/13 – BRA – 5/10
Penalties – USA 1/1 – BRA – 0/0
Swimming news courtesy of USA Water Polo.
