Dubrovnik, Croatia - September 2 - The inaugural World Aquatics Water Polo 4x4 Open Championships continued today in Dubrovnik with two Team USA squads in action. The USA Women kept rolling against Greece, 3-0, before the USA Men lost to host Croatia, 3-1, to cap off the day. Ryann Neushul was on fire for the women's squad with eight goals while Lauren Steele recorded six saves in the cage. Max Irving scored six for the men and Chris Whitelegge was great in net with 10 saves. The USA Women will face South Africa tomorrow at 8:10am pt before the USA Men play Australia at 9:00am pt. The matches will stream live on the World Aquatics YouTube channel with live stats available from Microplus Timing Services.
Rachel Fattal got things going for the USA Women with a skip shot score before Neushul put home two goals on a pair of counterattacks. Jenna Flynn made it 4-0 in the first set and the Americans took a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Jordan Raney scored first with a perfectly placed ball and then again on a cross cage strike. Later in the frame, Raney floated one home for a second set hat trick before Fattal added on. Jenna Flynn increased the lead to six with a pair of goals and then Neushul confirmed a 7-0 win in the second to go up 2-0.
Neushul deposited the first two goals of the third set for the United States before Jenna Flynn scored again. Greece was finally able to find the back of the net midway through but Neushul responded with another pair of scores. The Greeks scored twice more late but Neushul beat the buzzer for the Americans who claimed a 6-3 third set win and another 3-0 victory overall.
Team USA went 3/3 on power plays and no penalties attempted while Greece went 2/5 on power plays and 0/2 on penalties.
Scoring - Stats
USA 3 (4, 7, 6) R. Neushul 8, J. Flynn 4, J. Raney 3, R. Fattal 2
GRE 0 (0, 0, 3) A. Bikou 2, M. Liodaki 1
Saves - USA - L. Steele 6 - GRE - E. Konstantopoulou 2
6x5 - USA - 3/3 - GRE - 2/5
Penalties - USA - 0/0 - GRE - 0/2
Whitelegge began the game with three nice saves before Stefan Vavic got the United States on the board. Croatia leveled on the ensuing possession and then Irving scored to regain the lead. Three goals from the hosts gave Croatia the 4-2 set win and a 1-0 lead.
The second set began with a penalty shot conversion from Irving and continued when Stefan Vavic skipped one home for a two-goal edge. Croatia replied with three straight to take a lead before Marko Vavic was there for a rebound and put back goal. The home team scored again late but Irving hit from five meters to make sure the set ended in a 4-4 draw. Golden goal proceeded from there to determine the set winner and Croatia earned a penalty which they converted for a 5-4 win and 2-0 edge.
Marko Vavic made a nice move to score the first goal of the third set and then JP Ohl beat the shot clock buzzer before Croatia got one back. Carson Kranz put home the Americans' third goal on a cross cage shot prior to another Croatian score. Marko Vavic was left alone and converted a fourth goal on one end while Whitelegge made a big save on the other end. Irving pushed the United States up three before a late Croatian goal did little more than confirm a 5-3 third set win to keep Team USA alive, down 2-1.
The hosts began the fourth set with a cross cage goal for an early lead and added to the advantage with a long range connection and counterattack goal. After a timeout to regroup, the Americans got two in a row from Irving at five meters but Croatia responded with its fourth. Marko Vavic halved the deficit from there but it was not enough to catch the Croatians who took the set 4-3 and the match 3-1.
Team USA went 4/10 on power plays and 3/3 on penalties while Croatia went 6/9 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties.
Scoring - Stats
USA 1 (2, 4, 5, 3) M. Irving 6, M. Vavic 4, S. Vavic 2, J. Ohl 1, C. Kranz 1
CRO 3 (4, 5, 3, 4) I. Vukojevic 7, R. Pelicaric 5, N. Dragas 4
Saves - USA - C. Whitelegge 10 - CRO - N. Batos X
6x5 - USA - 4/10 - CRO - 6/9
Penalties - USA - 3/3 - CRO - 2/2
