USA Men Lose To Spain 26-25 To Begin Exhibition Series

Walnut, CA - June 26 - The USA Men's National Team opened play in a three-game series against Spain with a 26-25 loss Wednesday night after four rounds of a penalty shootout. Johnny Hooper was one of five players to record a hat trick for the Americans while Drew Holland recorded five saves in the cage. Team USA and Spain return to play on Friday night at UC Berkeley at 9:00pm et/6:00pm pt. Live streaming is available via Overnght with live stats from 6-8 Sports.

Spain got off to a quick start with goals from Miguel de Toro and Roger Tahull to go ahead 2-0. Team USA would respond with Hooper, Max Irving, and Luca Cupido scoring three consecutive goals to take the lead. Tahull leveled the score for the Europeans but Hannes Daube capped off the opening quarter with a penalty shot goal for a 4-3 edge.

In the second period, Ryder Dodd and Alex Bowen went back-to-back to push the Americans' lead to three. Alberto Munarriz and Felipe Perrone did the same for Spain to pull within one before Hooper fired one home to close the half with a 7-5 lead.

Ben Hallock earned a penalty coming out of the break and Bowen delivered on the five meter attempt. The Spanish side then turned to Marc Larumbe and Sergi Cabanas for a pair of goals midway through the quarter. With 1:49 to play, Hooper rose up out of the water and earned his hat trick on a beautiful skip shot before Tahull closed the gap to one, 9-8, in Spain's final possession of the period.

Team captains Felipe Perrone and Ben Hallock traded scores to open the final frame before de Toro and Tahull put home two to give Spain the lead. Midway through the fourth, Chase Dodd found Daube on the counter attack to level the score. Spain took a late lead from a Munarriz goal but Irving was able to muscle in a goal off a deflection with 1:14 remaining in regulation and the two squads headed to a shootout.

In the shootout, Perrone, Chase Dodd, Munarriz, Marko Vavic, Bernat Sanahuja, and Dylan Woodhead all stepped up to knock down five meter tries. Goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg was substituted into the game and immediately came up with a save lining up against Larumbe. The teams went back and forth until both Spanish goalkeepers came up with stops to secure the victory, 26-25.

The United States went 2/6 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties before the shootout while Spain went 1/8 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties prior to the shootout.

Scoring - Stats
USA 25 (4, 3, 2, 3, 13) C. Dodd 3, J. Hooper 3, A. Obert 3, M. Vavic 3, D. Woodhead 3, A. Bowen 2, H. Daube 2, B. Hallock 2, M. Irving 2, L. Cupido 1, R. Dodd 1
ESP 26 (3, 2, 3, 4, 14) F. Perrone 5, A. Munarriz 5, R. Tahull 4, M. Larumbe 3, B. Sanahuja 3, F. Valera 3, M. de Toro 2, S. Cabanas 1
6x5 - USA - 2/6 - ESP - 1/8
Penalties - USA - 2/2 - ESP 1/1 (Before shootout)
Saves - USA - D. Holland 5, A. Weinberg 1 - ESP - U. Aguirre 3, E. Lorrio 2