Zagreb, Croatia - March 9 - The Team USA Men defeated Japan 13-11 earlier today at the 2023 World Aquatics World Cup qualifier. Alex Bowen scored four times and Ben Hallock added two goals as Jack Turner recorded seven saves in net. Team USA returns to action tomorrow against France at 2:30pm et/11:30am pt. The game can be streamed live on the World Aquatics YouTube channel with live scoring available from World Aquatics by clicking here.
On the opening possession of the game, the United States got on the board with a lob shot from Chase Dodd off a nifty pass from Dylan Woodhead. Japan evened the score with a long range rocket into the corner of the net from Toi Suzuki before Alex Bowen regained the lead for Team USA with back-to-back power play goals. Yusuke Inaba scored on the next possession to cut the Japanese deficit in half as the Americans led 3-2. With two minutes remaining in the first period, Ben Hallock found Max Irving for his first score of the contest. Japan responded with a beautiful tip-in goal by Kiyomu Date before Ben Stevenson etched his name in the scorebook on a man-up advantage to give the United States a 5-3 lead after one quarter.
Mitsuru Takata converted a 6-on-5 chance for the Japanese to open the second period but Team USA immediately followed with Tyler Abramson and Luca Cupido powering in a pair of goals from either side of the net for a 7-4 lead. With just over five minutes to play in the second, Keigo Okawa floated a lob shot over the defense and into the net followed by Hallock scoring inside for the United States. Late in the second, Bowen recorded a first half hat trick with his third power play goal of the day and the Americans held a 9-5 halftime lead.
Two minutes into the third period, Japan earned the first penalty of the game and Inaba took advantage of the opportunity. About halfway through the quarter, Team USA got on the board via Hallock's second score. Shortly after, Japan earned its second penalty shot of the quarter but Inaba was denied by goalkeeper Jack Turner. Okawa and Johnny Hooper each converted on a power play for their countries before Seiya Adachi scored with ten seconds left to make the score 11-8 in favor of the United States after three periods.
To start the final frame, Suzuki put another one home for Japan just before Team USA earned their first penalty of the game. Bowen stepped up to fire it home for his fourth goal and a 12-9 lead. Late in the fourth, Adachi and Inaba scored for Japan on back-to-back trips to cut the deficit to one. With under two minutes to play, Turner notched a huge save which led to Marko Vavic solidifying the 13-11 victory on the other end.
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Scoring - Stats via World Aquatics
USA 13 (5, 4, 2, 2) A. Bowen 4, B. Hallock 2, J. Hooper 1, M. Vavic 1, T. Abramson 1, C. Dodd 1, L. Cupido 1, B. Stevenson 1, M. Irving 1
JPN 11 (3, 2, 3, 3) Y. Inaba 3, S. Adachi 2, T. Suzuki 2, K. Okawa 2, K. Date 1, M. Takata 1
Penalties: USA 1/1, JPN 1/2
6-on-5: USA 5/9, JPN 4/7
Saves: USA 7 (Turner), JPN 8 (Nishimura 6, Sasano 2)
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