Paris Olympics Men’s Water Polo: U.S. Gets First Win Over Romania

Ryder Dodd of U.S., left, battles with Vincenzo Renzuto during a group stage game in Paris; Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

Paris Olympics Men’s Water Polo: U.S. Gets First Win Over Romania

The U.S. got its first win of the Paris Olympics with a 14-8 decision over Romania, while a penalty shootout was required to separate Greece and Montenegro in the evening session.

The U.S. was tied at three with Romania after one quarter before rattling off six straight goals to take a 9-3 lead. Hannes Daube led the way with three goals on 3-for-3 shooting with two assists. Alex Bowen paired a hat trick with an assist. Max Irving had two goals and three helpers, and Adrian Weinberg was sensational with 13 saves.

The win evens the U.S.’s record at 1-1 in Group A play.

Vlad-Luca Georgescu had three goals and two assists for Romania. Silvian Colodrovschi tallied a hat trick.

Greece won a classic, 17-16, over Montenegro in the penalty shootout. The Greeks converted all five attempts in the shootout after Montenegro missed the opener. Montenegro had pushed the game to the shootout when Vasilije Radovic scored his second goal of the game with two seconds left.

Angelos Vlachopoulos led Greece with four goals, and Efstathios Kalogeropoulos scored three times.

Vlado Popadic popped home five goals to led Montenegro.

In a battle of medalists from Rio, Italy used a six-goal third quarter to pull away from Croatia, 14-11. Francesco Di Fulvio scored four goals. Gonzalo Echenique paired two goals with three assists. Six different Italians scored in the third quarter.

Konstantin Kharkov led a balanced Croatian attack with two goals and two assists. Loren Fatovic had two and one.

A five-goal outburst from Australia in the second quarter was more than enough to prevail in a defensive stalemate with Serbia, 8-3. Nic Porter made eight saves in net, the Aussies holding Serbia to 3-for-23 shooting (13 percent) and just 1-for-16 on action shots. Luke Pavillard scored four goals for Australia.

France won a thriller over Japan, 14-13, thanks to a three-goal run to open the fourth quarter. Thomas Vernoux was the catalyst, with both of his goals on the day in that stretch. He added four assists.

Michael Bodegas led France with three goals. Hugo Fontani made 10 saves. Ugo Crousillat paired two goals with two assists.

Yusuke Inaba scored six times for Japan.

Spain’s Unai Aguirre stifled Hungary with nine saves in a 10-7 victory. Alberto Munarriz powered the offense with two goals and three assists. Alvaro Granados and Marc Larumbe scored twice apiece.

Daniel Angyal’s two goals led the Hungary offense. Soma Vogel made 10 saves to keep them in touch.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use