Lewisville, TX - December 30 - The USA Men's National Team fell to Spain at the LISD Westside Aquatic Center tonight, 11-9. Team USA had four players score twice on the evening while
Adrian Weinberg recorded seven saves in the cage. The United States is back in action against Serbia on Monday 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 started well in the opening quarter.
Dylan Woodhead,
Ben Stevenson, and
Alex Bowen scored for the United States as Álvaro Granados converted a penalty shot for Spain to make the score 3-1 after the first period. The Spainards started to flip the script in the second period when Marc Larumbe scored two minutes in. Blai Mallarach, Marc Valls, and Granados continued the scoring for Spain in the quarter as Bowen converted a penalty try and
Ben Hallock rang the register from two meters for Team USA, leaving the score tied 5-5 at halftime.
The third quarter saw nine total goals, the highest total in any period of the game. Woodhead,
Chase Dodd, and Stevenson scored the first three of the quarter as the United States pushed in front by three. Spain answered right back with goals from Mallarach, Sergi Cabanas, and Granados to level the score at 8-8. Hallock responded ten seconds later for Team USA before Roger Tahull and Granados put away two more for Spain to close the quarter with a one-goal advantage. In the final frame, both defenses upped the intensity and stifled any offensive rhythm that was present in the prior period. Mallarach scored the lone goal of the quarter with 3:11 remaining to propel the Spanish to victory, 11-9.
The United States went 3/8 on power plays and 2/5 on penalties while Spain went 3/11 on power plays and 2/3 on penalties.
Scoring -
Stats via 6-8 Sports
USA 9 (3, 2, 4, 0) B. Hallock 2, A. Bowen 2, B. Stevenson 2, D. Woodhead 2, C. Dodd 1
ESP 11 (1, 4, 5, 1) A. Granados 4, B. Mallarach 3, M. Valls 1, M. Larumbe 1, S. Cabanas 1, R. Tahull 1
Saves - USA - A. Weinberg 7, D. Holland 5 - ESP - U. Aguirre 15
6x5 - USA - 3/8 - ESP - 3/11
Penalties - USA - 2/5 - ESP - 2/3
