Paris, France - August 5 - The U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team defeated Croatia 14-11 in a near wire-to-wire victory as they built a large lead in the first half and held off a rally from Croatia in the second half.
Max Irving and
Hannes Daube scored three goals each to lead the balanced USA attack while
Adrian Weinberg made nine big saves in cage. Team USA finishes group play at 3-2 and in third place with a quarterfinal meeting against Australia set for Wednesday at a time to be determined. The match is expected to be broadcast on USA Network with streaming on Peacock.
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Croatia struck first in the opening two minutes to grab a 1-0 lead, but they would never lead again.
Hannes Daube tied it moments later for a 1-1 game. At the 3:25 mark it was
Luca Cupido giving Team USA the lead followed by a
Ryder Dodd power play score for a 3-1 edge. Croatia got one back on the next possession but Team USA finished the quarter with a flourish as
Alex Bowen converted a penalty shot score and
Ryder Dodd hit with just nine seconds left for a 5-2 lead after one.
Things kept rolling in the second quarter with Irving opening the period with a goal for a 6-2 lead. Then with 6:12 to play it was
Johnny Hooper on a power play for a 7-2 advantage. After Croatia got one back Irving and Daube scored in the span of a minute to build a 9-3 cushion. With 2:42 to play
Ben Hallock got free on a power play, popping up right in front of the cage for the score and a 10-3 lead. Croatia had a strong push to end the first half, quickly scoring consecutive goals to cut the deficit to five at 10-5 going into the break.
With 5:30 to go in the third Croatia got within four but Daube answered again moments later to push it back out to five at 11-6. With 3:12 remaining in the quarter Croatia kept chipping away, getting to win four at 11-7 and that was the score after three quarters. Team USA drew a penalty in the opening minute of the fourth and
Marko Vavic converted for a 12-7 advantage. Croatia responded by scoring two straight to get it down to three at 12-9 with just under five minutes left.
Max Irving delivered a critical strike with 3:27 to go as Team USA went ahead 13-19. Croatia made one more big push getting the deficit down to two at 13-11 with 1:37 to play. Team USA turned to Bowen who banged a laser beam off the post for a goal to secure the win at 14-11.
Team USA went 5/8 on the power play and 2/2 on penalties while Croatia went 4/11 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties.
Scoring -
Stats
USA 14 (5, 5, 1, 3) M. Irving 3, H. Daube 3, A. Bowen 2, R. Dodd 2, J. Hooper 1, M. Vavic 1, L. Cupido 1. B. Hallock 1
CRO 11 (2, 3, 2, 4) K. Kharkov 5, L. Fatovic 3, M. Jokovic 1. L. Bukic 1, M. Zuvela 1
Saves - USA - A. Weinberg 9 - CRO - M. Bijac 7, T. Popadic 1
6x5 - USA - 5/8 - CRO - 4/11
Penalties - USA - 2/2 - CRO - 1/1
