By Bruce Wigo
BEIJING, China, August 12. THE U.S. Men's Olympic water polo team used a total team effort to down Italy, 12 – 11. In stark contrast to their opening game against China, when Tony Azevedo did the bulk of the scoring, nine different players found the back of the net against Italy.
The star performer tonight was Jeff Powers, who scored three goals and was outstanding at both ends of the tank. With this win, the Americans remain in control of their own destiny as they advance in group play.
After a series of runs that saw multiple lead changes, the U.S. took a lead it would never relinquish on back-to-back goals by Adam Wright and the first of the Powers goals in the third period. The final period began with the U.S. up 8 – 7. With scoring coming in pairs, the U.S. moved ahead by three on goals by Peter Hudnut and Powers. Italy returned fire with two goals of their own before Layne Beaubien and Powers put the Americans up, 12 -9. The Italians made it 12 – 11 and had a chance to tie, earning a power play with :24 left. But Alberto Angellini, one of Italy's aging superstars, threw the ball away and the U.S. had a well deserved win.
Next up for the U.S. is Serbia. The Serbs are not the same team that beat the Americans in the World League Superfinal. Tonight, Serbia jumped out to a 3 – 1 lead over its bitterest rival, Croatia, but ended up losing, 8 – 11. The key was Rako Rudic, the Hall of Fame Croatian coach, neutralizing Serbian superstar Alexandr Sapic. Sapic is vulnerable on defense and the Croats had him on the bench with two fouls early. Worse for the Serbs, All-World keeper Denis Sefik has looked all too human for the second game of the tournament. If both teams, the U.S. and Serbia, play as they did tonight, and the U.S. can get Sapic in foul trouble. Look for a big win for the Americans.
In other B group action, Germany squeezed by China, 6 – 5.
In group A, Spain went up 4 – 0 against Australia early in the game, but the Sharks dominated the rest of the game, but they couldn't beat the clock as Spain held on for 8 – 7 win. Hungary knocked off Greece and Montenegro obliterated Canada, 12 – 0.
