Tokyo, Japan - July 25 - The U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team rallied back from a three-goal deficit in the second quarter to defeat Japan 15-13 in their opening match at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Alex Bowen delivered five goals to lead all scorers,
Ben Hallock added three goals and
Drew Holland recorded nine saves in the win. To watch a replay of the match, visit the NBC Sports app or
click here. A replay will air as part of Olympics coverage on NBCSN starting at 8pm et/5pm pt on July 25. Team USA returns to the pool on July 27 against South Africa at 10am local time (9pm et/6pm pt on July 26). The match is scheduled to air live on CNBC in Olympics coverage starting at 8pm et/5pm pt. Live streaming is available by
clicking here.
Team USA took the lead early at 1-0 behind a Bowen penalty shot score. Japan countered with two straight goals to take a 2-1 advantage. The teams traded goals the rest of the quarter as Hallock followed to tie the match at 2-2. Japan went ahead 3-2 before Bowen closed the period with another for a 3-3 match going to the second. In the second quarter Japan jumped out to a 5-3 lead, then went ahead 7-4 with 3:29 left on a Seiya Adachi score. That was Japan's largest lead of the match as Team USA spent the next quarter and a half on the comeback trail. Hallock scored twice to make it 7-6 but Japan answered to go ahead 8-6. Bowen had the final word in the quarter to make it 8-7 at halftime.
Japan went in front 10-8 early in the third quarter and then Team USA made their big push.
Marko Vavic connected in close for his first Olympic goal followed moments later by fellow USC teammate
Hannes Daube hitting on his first Olympic goal and a 10-10 game. Bowen closed the scoring in the third on a power play connect with just :15 to play giving Team USA the lead back at 11-10, their first lead since 1-0.
In the fourth, Team USA kept the offense humming.
Max Irving broke through with his first Olympic goal followed moments later by an outside strike by
Luca Cupido for a 13-10 lead. Japan wouldn't quit as they scored two of the next three goals to make it 14-12 with 3:43 to play. Adachi came back with his third to make it 14-13 with just 1:49 to play.
Johnny Hooper silenced any thoughts of a tie game burying a power play goal, his first as an Olympian, to give Team USA a cushion at 15-13 with :26 to play. The Team USA defense made a stop on the next Japanese possession and the victory was secured.
Team USA went 6/13 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots while Japan went 5/7 on power plays and 4/4 on penalty shots.
Scoring -
Stats
USA 15 (3, 4, 4, 3) A. Bowen 5, B. Hallock 3, L. Cupido 2, J. Hooper 1, M. Vavic 1, A. Obert 1, H. Daube 1, M. Irving 1
JPN 13 (3, 5, 2, 3) S. Adachi 3, M. Shiga 3, Y. Inaba 3, A. Arai 2, K. Araki 1, T. Suzuki 1
Saves - USA - D. Holland 9 - JPN - K. Tanamura 11
6x5 - USA - 6/13 - JPN - 5/7
Penalty Shots - USA - 1/1 - JPN 4/4
