Pro Recco And Ben Hallock Win 2021 LEN Champions League

Irvine, CA - June 7 - Pro Recco with Ben Hallock captured the 2021 LEN Champions League title this weekend while Jug with Alex Obert placed 5th and Olympiacos with Max Irving and Hannes Daube finished 7th. For more on Team USA Abroad click here.

LEN Champions League Final 8 Results:
Quarterfinals:
Pro Recco 16 Hannover 9
Brescia 12 Jug 10
CNAB 22 Olympiacos 9

Semifinals:
Hannover 10 Olympiacos 8
Jug 16 Marseille 13
Pro Recco 12 CNAB 10

Finals:
1st: Pro Recco 9 FTC 6
5th: Jug 16 Hannover 11
7th: Olympiacos 13 Marseille 12

The 2021 LEN Champions League Final 8 took place from June 3-5 in Belgrade, Serbia. The format consisted of single elimination games with a winner's and loser's bracket. First up in the quarterfinals Pro Recco faced off against Hannover. Hannover would strike first but Pro Recco responded with a huge run as they took a 5-2 lead at the end of the first. Pro Recco continued to keep Hannover at bay as they expanded their lead to 9-5 at halftime. After Hannover pulled a goal back in the third Pro Recco dominated the last quarter as they won 16-9 and advanced to the semifinals. The second quarterfinal saw a tight matchup as Jug took on Brescia. It was a back and forth first quarter as Jug opened the scoring but Brescia came back to take a 3-2 lead at the end of the first. Jug quickly tied the game to start the second but once again Brescia pulled back ahead to take a 6-5 halftime lead. Brescia then upped their lead to two goals in the third but Jug came back to get within one at 9-8. Jug kept fighting in the fourth but for every goal they scored Brescia had an answer as Jug fell 12-10 and dropped into the loser's bracket. The final quarterfinal featuring Olympiacos taking on CNAB was a tough one for the Greeks. It was all CNAB in this one as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the end of the first. From there it only got worse for Olympiacos as they trailed 13-2 at halftime. Daube would add a late goal but Olympiacos weren't able to get any closer as they lost 22-9 and dropped into the loser's bracket.

The first 5-8 semifinal saw Olympiacos take on Hannover. Hannover opened the scoring in this one but Irving found the equalizer to make it 1-1. However Hannover scored late to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first. Hannover took control in the second as they took a 6-3 lead into halftime. Hannover built their lead up to five goals in the third but Olympiacos came back to keep the game within 9-6 at the end of the quarter. Olympiacos managed to get within two but that was as close as they got as they fell 10-8 to Hannover. The second 5-8 semifinal saw Jug take on Marseille. It was a close game in the beginning as the score was all level 1-1 at the end of the first. Marseille then built a 5-3 lead but Jug came storming back to take a 7-5 halftime advantage. Jug then built their lead up to 11-7 but this time it was Marseille who rallied to get back within 11-10. Obert would make sure Marsielle would get no closer as he scored on the power play late to give Jug a 12-10 lead at the end of the third. From there Jug held off Marseille as they won 16-13 to advance to the 5th place game. The last semifinal featuring a Team USA athlete saw Pro Recco take on CNAB. Despite Pro Recco opening the scoring CNAB took an early 4-2 lead at the end of the first. Pro Recco then rallied to take a 5-4 lead but once again CNAB came back to take a 7-6 halftime lead. Pro Recco came storming out of the gates to open the third as they reeled off three straight goals with Hallock ripping one in to give them a 9-7 lead. CNAB responded with a late goal but Pro Recco had an even later answer with one second left as they took a 10-8 lead into the final quarter. Pro Recco then held off CNAB to win 12-10 and advance to the final.

The next day's placement games began with Olympiacos taking on Marseille for 7th place. After two poor performances Olympiacos scored five goals in the first quarter to take a 5-2 lead. Marseille fought back in the second though as they got back within one twice as Olympiacos led 7-6 at halftime. After Marseille quickly tied it to start the third Irving put Olympiacos back ahead 8-7 where they would stay as they led 11-10 at the end of the third. Marseille once again rallied to tie it late but this time it was Daube who answered with a thunderous strike to give Olympiacos a 13-12 victory. Next up the 5th place game featured Jug taking on Hannover. The teams traded goals to start the first as Jug took an early 3-2 lead at the end of the first. Jug took over in the second as they scored six straight goals including one on the power play from Obert to take a 9-3 halftime advantage. Obert would add two more goals in the second as Jug stretched their lead to 14-7 at the end of the third. Hannover kept fighting in the fourth but Jug were to overpowering as Obert finished the game off with his fourth goal of the game to give Jug a 16-11 victory. Finally the Championship game saw Pro Recco take on FTC. It was a back and forth first as the teams traded leads before Pro Recco took a 3-2 advantage at the end of the first. The game continued to be tight in the second as FTC came back to tie it 5-5 at halftime. Pro Recco then took over as they scored four straight goals to take a 9-5 lead. FTC would finally get back on the board to cut it to 9-6 but that was as close as they got as Pro Recco with Hallock won the 2021 LEN Champions Leauge. For a replay of all the games from the Final 8 and group stage click here. For results and statistics click here. That concludes Men's National Team club play abroad this season as all players have now joined up with the Men's National Team who are training in Europe as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

Relive the final moments and trophy celebration as @ben_hallock and @prorecco captured the 2021 @LENchampions league title 9-6 over FTC! ??#ChampionsLeagueFinal #waterpolo #NoSleepTilTokyo pic.twitter.com/8cYfG6NrjF
— USA Water Polo (@USAWP) June 6, 2021