Berkeley, CA - July 8 - The USA Men opened a three-game series against Italy tonight with a 12-11 win in Berkeley. Team captain Max Irving and Ryan Ohl scored three goals each on the evening. The United States and Italy will meet again Friday, July 10 at University of the Pacific with a 7pm pt start time. The game will feature a retirement celebration for Olympic bronze medalist Alex Obert with LIVE streaming on Overnght and LIVE stats on 6-8 Sports.

This contest got started with an early Italian goal but Chase Dodd had an answer quickly to level the score. Midway through the opening quarter, Italy had numerous chances for another goal but Weinberg had multiple stops to keep the ball out of the back of the net. The Italians did retake the lead later in the period on a long-range goal from the goalkeeper before Irving announced his return to Team USA with a bar down score to tie the score at 2-2 after one.

Dodd put the United States back in front early in the second and then Italy responded with a cross cage skip. An American power play led to Ben Liechty getting involved before Irving tallied another for Team USA. Minutes later, Ryan Ohl fired in his first to double up Italy 6-3 at the half.

Nearly half the third quarter had gone by without a goal before Marko Vavic struck first on a penalty shot. Next, Weinberg swatted away another point blank attempt but Italy was there for the rebound and put back. Ryan Ohl was able to convert on a bar down strike prior to Irving putting away his third on a powerful skip shot. With just 0:01 left in the third, Ryan Ohl registered a hat trick on the day to push the American lead to 10-4.

Early on in the final frame, Vavic was kicked out on a brutality call and Team USA had to endure four minutes of playing with a man down. Italy took full advantage of the opportunity, scoring five straight goals to pull back within one with two and a half minutes to play. With the sides level again late, Nicolas Saveljic stopped the Italian run with a huge goal for the United States. Italy got one back on a bar down goal before Peter Castillo made a big turn in set and fired one over the head of the Italian goalkeeper for the game-clinching goal. The visitors scored one more time with seconds left but Team USA escaped with a 12-11 win.

Scoring
USA 12 (2, 4, 4, 2) M. Irving 3, R. Ohl 3, C. Dodd 2, P. Castillo 1, B. Liechty 1, N. Saveljic 1, M. Vavic 1
ITA 11 (2, 1, 1, 7)