USA Men Open Play in Texas With 16-12 Win Over Serbia

Lewisville, TX - December 28 - The USA Men's National Team defeated Serbia at the LISD Westside Aquatic Center tonight, 16-12. Alex Bowen and Chase Dodd led the way with three goals each for the United States as Jack Turner recorded five saves in net. Team USA will play Spain on Friday night at 7pm ct/5pm pt. The match can be streamed at YouTube.com/USAWP. Tickets for the series in Texas are available by clicking here.

Team USA and Serbia played to a draw in the opening quarter. Dodd, Hannes Daube, and Ben Hallock all scored for the United States as Luka Pljevancic, Ognjen Stojanovic, and Strahinja Rašovic scored for Serbia to level the score at 3-3 after the first period. Max Irving converted a penalty shot for the Americans to start the scoring in the second quarter before Rašovic, Radomir Drašovic, and Nikola Jakšic gave Serbia a two-goal advantage with 0:11 to play in the half. With time winding down in the period, Marko Vavic fired one through the defense to beat the buzzer for Team USA and cut the deficit to one at halftime.

The third quarter featured the United States scoring eight times to take control of the match. Bowen, Johnny Hooper, Hallock, Daube, Jake Ehrhardt, Dodd (2), and Irving all scored for Team USA in the period. Nemanja Ubovic, Djorde Vucinic, and Drašovic found the back of the net for Serbia and the Americans led 13-9 after three periods. In the final frame, Bowen put the game out of reach with back-to-back goals to push the lead to six, 15-9. From there, Drašovic put two in the back of the cage for Serbia and Dylan Woodhead added another for the United States. Stojanovic scored a consolation goal with time ticking away and Team USA claimed the victory, 16-12.

The United States went 6/10 on power plays and 3/3 on penalties while Serbia went 7/16 on power plays and 1/3 on penalties.

Scoring - Stats via 6-8 Sports
USA 16 (3, 2, 8, 3) A. Bowen 3, C. Dodd 3, H. Daube 2, B. Hallock 2, M. Irving 2, J. Hooper 1, M. Vavic 1, D. Woodhead 1, J. Ehrhardt 1
SRB 12 (3, 3, 3, 3) R. Drašovic 4, S. Rašovic 2, O. Stojanovic 2, L. Pljevancic 1, N. Jakšic 1, N. Ubovic 1, D. Vucinic 1
Saves - USA - J. Turner 5, A. Weinberg 3 - SRB - B. Mitrovic 6
6x5 - USA - 6/10 - SRB - 7/16
Penalties - USA - 3/3 - SRB - 1/3