Dallas, TX - January 2 - The USA Men's National Team lost to Serbia at the SMU Robson & Lindley Aquatic Center tonight, 14-11. Team USA had five players score twice on the evening while
Drew Holland tallied seven saves in net. The United States closes out the series in Texas against Spain tomorrow 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 jumped out to an early lead in the opening quarter.
Alex Bowen started the scoring for the United States and was followed by
Ben Hallock and
Matt Farmer (2) on man-advantages. Marko Radulovic and Djorde Vucinic scored goals for Serbia as the United States led 4-2 after the first period. The second period was a defensive showcase as both sides managed just one goal. Djordje Lazic cut the Serbian deficit in half midway through the quarter and
Tyler Abramson put one home with just over one minute remaining to give Team USA a 5-3 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was the opposite of the previous period as eleven total goals were scored between the two teams.
Ben Stevenson (2), Bowen, Hallock, and
Max Irving found the back of the net for the United States in the third while Ognjen Stojanovic, Vasilije Martinovic, Sava Randelovic, Nikola Jakšic (2), and Radomir Drašovic pushed across goals for the Serbians. The scoring barage left Team USA ahead 10-9 headed into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, both defenses responded to the offensive explosion in the previous period. Serbia scored twice in the quarter from Drašovic and Nemanja Ubovic while the United States put one on the board via Abramson to level the score at 11-11 after regulation.
In the ensuing penalty shootout, Team USA could not sneak one past Branislav Mitrovic while Stojanovic, Vucinic, and Martinovic buried their tries for Serbia to claim victory, 14-11.
The United States went 6/13 on power plays and 2/7 on penalties while Serbia went 3/10 on power plays and 4/5 on penalties.
Scoring -
Stats via 6-8 Sports
USA 11 (4, 1, 5, 1, 0) B. Hallock 2, T. Abramson 2, A. Bowen 2, B. Stevenson 2, M. Farmer 2, M. Irving 1
SRB 14 (2, 1, 5, 2, 3) V. Martinovic 2, R. Drašovic 2, N. Jakšic 2, O. Stojanovic 2, D. Vucinic 2, M. Radulovic 1, S. Randelovic 1, D. Lazic 1, N. Ubovic 1
Saves - USA - D. Holland 7, J. Turner 5 - SRB - B. Mitrovic 16
6x5 - USA - 6/13 - SRB - 3/10
Penalties - USA - 2/7 - SRB - 4/5
