Stanford, CA - July 12 - The USA Men lost to Italy today, 14-10, at Avery Aquatic Center on the campus of Stanford University. Chase Dodd and Ryan Ohl scored three goals each while goalkeepers Bernardo Herzer and Adrian Weinberg combined for ten saves in the cage. The match also featured a retirement celebration for Olympic bronze medalist Drew Holland who capped up for the final time with Team USA.
Italy jumped ahead early with two goals in the opening two minutes. Just over midway through the first quarter, Max Irving fired home a goal on the power play to get Team USA on the board. The Italians had a response before Dodd got one back to halve the deficit. One minute later, Italy scored to go up 4-2 at the end of one.
The United States struck first in the second period when Ryan Ohl connected on a power play. After a steal from Irving, he found Marko Vavic on the counter attack who put it away to level the score and fire up the home crowd. The visitors responded to retake the lead but Irving stepped up to bury another and even things once again. Nearly four minutes of scoreless action ensued before Italy earned a pair of penalties and converted both attempts from five meters. Peter Castillo got one back for Team USA before the break to set the score at 7-6.
Nearly two minutes into the third quarter, Italy doubled its advantage with a counter attack goal. Dodd responded with a pair of goals off assists from Ben Liechty to earn his hat trick and tie the score. The Italians answered on a power play but Ryan Ohl did the same for the Americans as the game went back and forth. The visitors scored twice to close the quarter with an 11-9 lead.
The Italians began to put some distance between the two sides with two power play goals to begin the final frame and they added another with just under two minutes remaining. From there, Ryan Ohl managed one more goal for the Americans before the final whistle sounded on a 14-10 victory for Italy.
Team USA went 6/16 on power plays with no penalties attempted while Italy went 4/10 on power plays and 4/5 on penalties.
Scoring - Stats
USA 10 (2, 4, 3, 1) C. Dodd 3, R. Ohl 3, M. Irving 2, P. Castillo 1, M. Vavic 1
ITA 14 (4, 3, 4, 3) F. Condemi 3, M. Iocchi Gratta 2, F. Ferrero 2, A. Carnesecchi 2, G. Cannella 1, F. Cassia 1, S. Guerrato 1, A. Mladossich 1, A. Patchaliev 1
Saves - USA - B. Herzer 6, A. Weinberg 4 - ITA - M. Del Lungo 5, G. Nicosia 4
6x5 - USA - 6/16 - ITA - 4/10
Penalties - USA - 0/0 - ITA - 4/5
