Berkeley, CA - June 28 - The USA Men's National Team held off Spain 10-9 Friday night at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Golden Bears powered Team USA in their return to Berkeley as
Luca Cupido recorded a hat trick on the evening while
Adrian Weinberg notched 17 saves in the cage. Team USA and Spain wrap up this three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Sacred Heart Prep at 4:00pm et/1:00pm pt. Live streaming is available via
Overnght with live stats from
6-8 Sports.
Spain would strike first in this contest when Alvaro Granados found the back of the net on the opening possession. Team USA was ready with a response however as
Max Irving leveled the score immediately. Midway through the quarter, Alberto Munarriz put the visitors back in front before Cupido scored his first goal to pull even. Later in the period, Bernat Sanahuja took advantage of a power play for Spain before
Hannes Daube did the same for the United States and the two teams were knotted at 3-3 after one.
In the second, the Americans stepped up the defense with Weinberg registering six saves in the quarter. Offensively, the third Golden Bear
Johnny Hooper converted a penalty shot to retake the lead for the United States. From there,
Ryder Dodd got in on the action with a pair of goals to close the first half as Team USA led 6-3 at the break.
Two minutes into the third period, Daube extended the lead to four with a beautiful skip shot. After that, Spain got on a roll to close the quarter. Blai Mallarach (3), Sanahuja, and Unai Biel strung together five consecutive goals to retake the lead at 8-7 headed into the fourth.
In the final frame the two squads went back-and-forth without a goals for almost three minutes before Hooper earned an exclusion and Cupido found
Chase Dodd for a game-tying score on the man advantage. With just over two minutes left, Cupido put the United States back in front with a vicious side arm strike. From there, a penalty on the Americans set up Sanahuja with a five meter attempt but Weinberg sent it away with a huge save to the delight of the Cal faithful. Cupido kept the crowd on its feet with his third goal of the contest to seal the victory with :12 left. Sanahuja would score for Spain with :01 remaining but it was too little too late as Team USA emerged with the 10-9 victory.
The United States went 4/11 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties while Spain went 1/7 on power plays and 0/1 on penalties.
Scoring -
Stats
USA 10 (3, 3, 1, 3) L. Cupido 3, H. Daube 2, R. Dodd 2, C. Dodd 1, J. Hooper 1, M. Irving 1
ESP 9 (3, 0, 5, 1) B. Mallarach 3, B. Sanahuja 3, U. Biel 1, A. Granados 1, A. Munarriz 1
6x5 - USA - 4/11 - ESP - 1/7
Penalties - USA - 1/1 - ESP 0/1
Saves - USA - A. Weinberg 17 - ESP - U. Aguirre 11
