Szeged, Hungary - June 25 - The USA Men's National Team locked down second place in Group D play at the FINA World Championships with a 14-9 win over Australia earlier today.
Max Irving scored four goals to lead the offense with
Ben Hallock adding three scores as Team turned in a stellar performance on the power play going 7/8.
Drew Holland went the distance in net with 11 saves. Team USA now advances to the crossover round where they will meet South Africa on Monday at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt. Live streaming is available via the FINA YouTube page byÂ
clicking here. For those in Europe, live streaming can be accessed byÂ
clicking here. Post game stats will be available byÂ
clicking here.
Alex Bowen and Irving delivered goals to start the scoring, putting Team USA up 2-0 early. Irving added another late in the period to put the United States in front 4-2 after the opening eight minutes. Australia battled back with two straight goals to open the second quarter, trying the game with 5:04 left in the half on a Luke Pavillard tally. Team USA responded in a major way with four unanswered goals, including two from Hallock, for an 8-4 lead at halftime.
The United States added four more goals in the third quarter, capped off a by a
Jake Ehrhardt score to build a 12-7 lead headed to the fourth. The two sides were level in the fourth quarter, trading goals throughout the period.
Chase Dodd and Irving had the final goals for Team USA on the way to the 14-9 victory. Team USA finished 7/8 on power plays and 3/3 on penalty shots with Australia going 6/10 on power plays with no penalty shots attempted. Â
Scoring -
Stats
USA 14 (4, 4, 4, 2) M. Irving 4, B. Hallock 3, A. Bowen 2, H. Daube 1, J. Ehrhardt 1, C. Dodd 1, T. Gruwell 1, B. Stevenson 1
AUS 9 (2, 2, 3, 2) G. Ford 2, L. Pavillard 2, C. Negus 2, R. Townsend 1, N. Power 1, B. Edwards 1
Saves - USA - D. Holland 11 - AUS - N. Porter 4
6x5 - USA - 7/8 - AUS 6/10
Penalties - USA - 3/3 - AUS - 0/0Â
