Italy 15 USA 12
It was a high-scoring affair on both sides, but Italy used a 6-3 advantage in the third quarter to defeat USA 15-12. The win propels Italy to the World Cup gold medal match vs. Spain while Team USA will go for bronze against Hungary.
After each of the first two quarters, the teams were at a standstill. In quarter one, USA put away their first power play opportunity with a quick catch and release by
Alex Bowen. Soon after,
Ben Hallock scored from center to give the USA an early two goal lead. Edoardo DiSomma scored all three Italy goals in the first to tie the game after eight minutes of play.
Fondelli found the back of the net in Italy's first possession of the second quarter and would answer right back again after USA's
Hannes Daube scored the equalizer. Taking advantage of a confused USA defense who had two players swimming to the exclusion corner, Italy would score on an inadvertent 6-on-4 power play to take a 6-5 lead. With :15 remaining in the half, Bowen drew a timely exclusion. After dishing it out to Hooper, Bowen received the ball back to secure his third goal on the night.
Tied 6-6 at the half, the two teams exchanged goals to start the third. Then, Team USA would go up 9-7 after back-to-back goals by
Ryder Dodd. That lead didn't last long, as Italy scored five unanswered goals in the final three minutes to gain a three goal lead heading into the final frame. DiSomma, who finished with five goals, scored two and had one assist in that span. In the fourth quarter, Team USA used a Daube goal on a power play to start chipping away at the deficit. But Italy always had an answer.
In what could have been a momentum shifting play for the USA, Italy backup goalie Nicholas Presciutti came away with a huge five-meter penalty shot save with under three minutes remaining.
Still, Team USA refused to surrender. It was a
Chase Dodd to
Ryder Dodd connection on a 6-on-4 with 2:39 remaining to pull the USA within three at 14-11, but Italy responded right away to give regain a four-goal cushion. DiSomma led all scorers with five goals and Italy saw eight different players score. For Team USA, Daube and Bowen scored four a piece. USA goalie Adrien Weinberg turned away seven shots.
Spain 10 Hungary 8
A dominant Spain defense held off a late Hungary fourth-quarter run to claim a 10-8 win in semifinal action of the men's water polo. World Cup
Spain's aggressive defensive effort was led by goalie Unai Aguirre, who stopped 15 attempts. In what would prove to be Hungary's final possession, Aguirre batted down the ball three times to clinch the victory.
In the third period, Aguirre's crucial stop on a man-down situation transferred into a two-goal swing as he found an open Bernat Sanajuah to give Spain its biggest lead of the afternoon, 9-4, heading into the final frame.
The defensive tone was set early, with Spain coming away with four steals and holding Hungary without a goal in the first quarter.
Spain's Alberto Munarriz Egana ignited the squad's offensive attack, scoring the first two goals of the game from six meters and beyond. Egana led all goal-scorers with three.
In the cage for Hungary, Marton Levai blocked eight.
Spain will now advance to the 2023 World Cup title game, while Hungary will play for third place tomorrow.
Romania 17 Serbia 14
Behind a five-goal performance from Tudor-Andrei Fulea, Romania stuns reigning Olympic champion Serbia, 17-14, in a day two crossover match of the men's water polo World Cup. It was a high-energy start for Romania, blanking Serbia 3-0 in the opening three minutes of play. Vlad-Luca Georgescu stuck first off a two-on-one counter attack. But it was his fourth quarter heroics that proved especially fruitful for the underdog Romanians.
After Serbia narrowed the gap to two with 3:25 remaining in the game, a brilliant shot from outside six meters gave Romania its three-goal cushion back. On the ensuing counter, Georgescu stole an errant Serbian throw, drew a subsequent exclusion and passed to a wide-open Fulea who extended his team's lead, 17-13.
The Serbia defense struggled to get to thwart Romania's offensive efforts. Mario Radulovic put the Serbian offense on his back to score four of the squad's six goals in the first half and finish with seven in the game. Serbian goalie Branislav Mitrovic saved eight between the pipes, while Romania's Marius-Florin Tic turned away six.
Romania will next play Greece for fifth place, while Serbia will face off with Germany for seventh.
Greece 19 Germany 6
A potent and balanced scoring attack proved too much for Germany, as Greece dominated the first crossover game, 19-6, in day two of the World Aquatics Men's Water Polo World Cup. Ten different players found the back of the net for Greece, as Stylianos Argyropoulos, Efstathios Kalogeropoulos and Alexandros Papanastasiou led all scorers with three goals each. Greece jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with Argyropoulos converting a five-meter penalty shot before making good on a power-play opportunity from the post in the first three minutes of play.
The offensive onslaught continued through the second period, with Greece shutting out Germany, 5-0, through 12 minutes of play. Germany finally got on the board with a counterattack goal by Mateo Cuk 4:36 in the second period. Greece took advantage of a foul-heavy German defense, posting a 63% (5/8) success rate in power play opportunities and converting five-of-seven penalty shots. German goalkeeper Felix Andreas Benke, however, turned away 13 goals, including two fast-break attempts and a penalty shot, in an attempt to keep Germany in the game.
With the win, Greece secures a spot in the fifth-place game tomorrow, while Germany will play for seventh.
