GENOVA, Italy, June 17. FOR the second straight day the USA Men's Senior National Team fell into a hole in the first quarter–only this time they came back and then pushed on for a victory defeating China 13-9 on the second day of the FINA World League Super Final. Team captain Tony Azevedo lit up the Chinese for seven goals in the victory while Jeff Powers and Tim Hutten each scored twice.
Team USA battled back from a 3-2 first quarter deficit to tie the game at 5-5 at the half. In the third quarter they claimed a one goal lead at 8-7 with play going to the final stanza. In the fourth they took it up another notch outscoring China 5-2 en route to the 13-9 victory. The two teams will meet again in the opening game of the 2008 Olympics. "China is an improving team. They will be a great challenge in the opening round of the Olympics. Tony played very well and carried us to this win today," said USA Head Coach Terry Schroeder.
Brandon Brooks did the job in net stopping six shots. Next up for Team USA is a day off on Wednesday followed by a Thursday meeting with Spain at 7:20am PST.
Special thanks to USA Water Polo for contributing this report.