Water Polo: US Cadets Fall to Hungary, 13-8
OBRENOVEC, Yugoslavia, August 29. THE USA men's cadet water polo team (15-under) lost to Hungary, 13-8, at the YU Open Tournament in a continuing trend of Hungarian dominance over the U.S. in water polo.
The one shining exception this year came when the U.S. men's senior team handed Hungary its only loss in preliminary play in the FINA World League in July.
While the U.S. cadets fared well for a while today, in the end, Hungary had more fuel in the tank and was able to stave off a USA comeback.
Will Hindle-Katel, Christian Flores, and Miguel Cidoncha all chipped in two goals for Team USA (0-3). Charles Wright and Kevin Lorber accounted for the other two U.S. goals. Eric Vreeland and Nico Sardo steered the defense for the U.S., combining to draw five exclusions on the day. Vreeland also added two assists and three steals.
The U.S. goalkeeper tandem of Chay Tatman and John Connolly were solid again in goal against the Hungarian assault. Tatman stopped four shots in 1 ½ quarters of action, while Connolly had seven saves in 2 ½ quarters in the net.
The cadets will splash back into action tomorrow with a 4:30 p.m. game (local Obrenovec time) against the third place team from Group B. The winner will move on to play for fifth place, while the loser will contend for seventh.