USA Water Polo Falls To Australia in FINA World League Super Final

The USA Water Polo Men’s National Team fell just short on day two of the FINA World League Super Final, losing to Australia 10-9. The back and forth game was decided late in the match as Australia scored two goals in the final two minutes to thwart a Team USA rally. Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/NYAC) and Bret Bonanni (Huntington Beach, CA/Stanford/Stanford) scored three goals each in the loss while Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/Pepperdine/NYAC) posted 10 saves in net.

The United States closes out group play on Thursdaywhen they meet Italy at 2pm est/11am pst. Live webcast coverage is available and can be accessed by clicking here.Australia got off to a strong start leading 2-1 after the first eight minutes and 4-1 at halftime. Team USA battled back in the third quarter outscoring Australia 4-2 to draw within one at 6-5 going to the fourth. The United States tied the match at 6-6 early in the fourth setting off back and forth scoring for the remainder of the contest.Aaron Younger was the star for Australia. After Team USA tied the game at 7-7, Australia went ahead 8-7 and then Younger scored one of his five goals on the day to make it 9-7 with 1:23 to play. A late goal from Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/Stanford) would not be enough to bring Team USA all the way back.

Power plays told the story of the match with the United States going 0/9 and Australia converting on 8/11 opportunities.

Scoring
USA 9 (1, 0, 4, 4) T. Azevedo 3, B. Bonanni 3, J. Samuels 2, A. Bowen 1
AUS 10 (2, 2, 2, 4)
Saves – USA – M. Moses 10
6×5 – USA – 0/9 – AUS – 8/11

Bergamo, Italy – June 23 – The USA Men’s Senior National Team opened play at the FINA World League Super final with a 13-7 loss to Serbia earlier today. Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/Stanford) and Bret Bonanni (Huntington Beach, CA/Stanford/Stanford) scored two goals each in the loss. Team USA returns to action on Wednesday with a meeting against Australia at 9:40am pt.

The match will stream live via FINA TV, to access the stream click here.Serbia took control of this match early on opening up a 6-3 lead after the first period and a 9-3 advantage at halftime. The number two ranked team in the world put the match away in the third quarter outscoring Team USA 3-1 to take a commanding 12-4 lead headed to the fourth. The United States got their offense back on track posting three goals in the final eight minutes but the damage had already been done as Serbia cruised to a 13-7 win.Scoring
USA 7 (3, 0, 1, 3) A. Bowen 2, B. Bonanni 2, A. Roelse 1, T. Azevedo 1, J. Samuels 1
SRB 13 (6, 3, 3, 1)