Olympiacos Wins 2021 A1 Ethniki League Championship as Team USA Success in Europe Continues

Irvine, CA - Olympiacos with Max Irving and Hannes Daube captured the A1 Ethniki League Championship while Jug and Alex Obert put themselves in position to win the Croatian League Championship. Action in Italy also continued while the Montenegro Championship also wrapped up. For more on Team USA abroad click here.

Results:
A1 Ethniki League Championship
Olympiacos 11 Vouliagmeni 6 Game 1
Olympiacos 11 Vouliagmeni 9 Game 2
Vouliagmeni 9 Olympiacos 8 Game 3
Olympiacos 12 Vouliagmeni 9 Game 4 (Olympiacos wins 3-1)

3^rdPlace
Apollon 8 Peristeri 6 Game 1
Apollon 15 Peristeri 13 Game 2 (Apollon wins 2-0)

Croatian Championship:
Jug 10 Mladost 8 Game 2 (Jug leads 2-0)

Montenegro Championship:
Jadran 8 Primorac 6 Game 3
Jadran 10 Primorac 5 Game 4 (Jadran wins 3-1)

Italy:
Lazio 13 Roma 8

Schedule:
Croatian Championship:
5/19 Jug vs Mladost

Italy:
5/22 Roma vs Florentia

The A1 Ethinki League Championship featuring Olympiacos with Max Irving and Hannes Daube taking on Vouliagmeni got off to a competitive start as the teams were all level 3-3 at the end of the first in game one. The second quarter was also back and forth as Irving scored to tie the game at 5-5 at halftime. Olympiacos then seized the momentum in the third as they took an 8-6 lead. From there it was all Olympiacos as they went on to win 11-6 and go up 1-0 in the series. Olympiacos looked to take control of the series as they went up 4-2 at the end of the first in game two. Olympiacos maintained their lead in the second as Daube scored with Olympiacos going up 6-4 at halftime. Olympiacos increased their lead to 10-7 at the end of the third and held off a late charge by Vouliagmeni as they won 11-9 to take a 2-0 series lead. Vouliagmeni looked to get back into the series in game three. Olympiacos fell behind early as they trailed 5-3 at halftime. Olympiacos rallied to tie the game at 7-7 in the third thanks to three goals from Irving but Vouliagmeni scored the game winner late in the fourth to win 9-8 and force a game four. Olympiacos took an early lead in game four as they led 5-3 at the end of the first. Vouliagmeni though came storming back in the second to take a 7-6 lead. Olympiacos answered in the third with a 3-1 run to take a 9-8 lead. Olympiacos took control in the fourth scoring three goals in a row as they went on to win 12-9 and take the 2021 A1 Ethniki League Championship 3-1 over Vouliagmeni.

The A1 Ethiniki Playoffs also continued with third place action. First Apollon and Alex Bowen took on Peristeri with Matt Farmer. Peristeri took an early 2-0 lead but Apollon came back to level the game at 2-2 on a goal from Bowen. The teams then exchanged goals as they went into halftime tied 3-3. Apollon then took over in the third with Bowen leading the charge as they took a 6-4 lead. Peristeri rallied to tie the game again with Farmer scoring but Apollon finished off the game with two of their own to win 8-6 and go up 1-0 in the series. Peristeri looked to even the series in the second game as it was level 4-4 at the end of the first. They then took the lead in the second as went up 6-5 at halftime. The third quarter was back and forth as Peristeri maintained a one goal lead of 9-8 at the end of the quarter. Apollon quickly tied it to start the fourth and then took a late 11-10 lead but Peristeri scored the tying goal to send the game to penalties. Apollon prevailed in the penalty shootout 4-2 to win 3^rdplace. Bowen scored for Apollon in the victory while Farmer scored in the shootout for Peristeri.

The Croatian Champion also continued as Alex Obert and Jug faced off against Mladost in game two of their five game series. After taking game one Jug looked to increase their advantage in the series. It was another close one as the teams were knotted up at 2-2 at the end of the first. The second quarter was just as tight as the teams exchanged goals and were still tied at 4-4 at halftime. Jug took control against Mladost in the third as they went on a 3-1 run to take a 7-5 lead that they did not relinquish as they went on to win 10-8 and take a 2-0 series lead. Jug can wrap up the title on May 19 by winning game three.

The Monetengro Championship featuring Ash Molthen and Primorac taking on Jadran also wrapped up. Both teams went into game three looking to seize the momentum with the series tied 1-1. It was Jadran who took control early on as they led 1-0 after the first. The second quarter saw the teams exchange goals as Jadran led 2-1 at halftime. Jadran then took over in the third as they took a 7-3 lead at the end of the third quarter. Primorac didn't give up fighting though as they scored back to back goals with one coming from Molthen to get back within two goals. Jadran made sure they wouldn't get any closer though as they went on to win 8-6 to go up 2-1 in the series. Click here for stats. Primorac looked to even the series in game four but Jadran had other plans as they took a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Primorac managed to stay even with Jadran in the second as Jadran took a 5-2 halftime lead. Despite a goal from Molthen in the third Primorac weren't able to overcome their early deficit as they fell 10-5 to Jadran losing the Championship 3-1. Click here for stats.

Italian Serie A2 action continued with Marko Vavic and Roma taking on Lazio. Roma started off well with two goals as they led 2-0 at the end of the first. Roma continued to have the edge as they kept one goal ahead of Lazio for most of the quarter as they led 5-4 at halftime. After Roma increased their lead Lazio responded with four straight goals to take a 9-8 lead at the end of the third. From there it was all Lazio as they shut down Roma to win 13-8. Roma will return to action on March 22 against Florentia.