USA Junior Men Stop Montenegro & Hungary
7/24/2010 12:00:00 AM
Acireale, Italy - July 24 - The USA Men's Junior National Team picked up two big wins on their training trip in Italy defeating two traditional powers in Montenegro 10-7 and then Hungary 11-6. Bret Bonanni (Huntington Beach, CA/Regency) fired home four goals in the win over Montenegro while Garrett Danner (Lake Forest, CA/SET) tallied 11 saves. In the win over Hungary it was Farrell South (Newport Beach, CA/Newport WPF) had three goals and Chris Whitelegge (Newport Beach, CA/Newport WPF) went the distance in the cage piling up 17 saves.
In the match against Montenegro the United States shrugged off a slow start that saw them trailing 2-0 after the first and rebounded to tie the match at 5-5 by halftime. In the third quarter Team USA went ahead 8-7 and then put the match to bed in the fourth quarter posting two more goals to take the 10-7 win. The United States 3/5 on power plays while Montenegro was 3/11. Montenegro was able to cash in on two penalty shots, the United States did not attempt any.
"Even though we started off slow the team was able to hold it's composure to stay within the system and battle back to tie the game at half. The momentum we gained at half propelled us to a 10-7 victory," said USA Head Coach Ryan Brown.
Scoring
USA 10 (0, 5, 3, 2) B. Bonanni 4, R. Renteria 2, F. South 2, J. Walters 1, M. Vonderweidt 1
MNE 7 (2, 3, 2, 0)
Saves - USA - G. Danner 11
6x5 - USA 3/5 - MNE 3/11
Penalties - USA 0/0 - MNE 2/2
The match against Hungary saw the United States take an early lead and build on that throughout. They led 3-2 after the first and then went up 6-3 at halftime. The third quarter was more of the same with the United States opening up a 9-4 lead by the end of the period. In the final quarter the Hungarians would score twice but that was countered by two USA goals and the match ended at 11-6 in favor of Team USA.
The United States went 5/9 on power plays, Hungary went 3/6 and missed on their lone penalty shot attempt. "Our team focus has been defense, this was the best team defensive performance of the tournament. The team is really starting to understand our recipe for victory," added Brown.
Scoring
USA 11 (3, 3, 3, 2) F. South 3, M. Vonderwiedt 2, B. Bonanni 2, J. Walters 2, A. Bowen 1, R. Renteria 1
HUN 6 (2, 1, 1, 2)
Saves - USA - C. Whitelegge 17
6x5 - USA 5/9 - HUN 3/6
Penalties - USA 0/0 - HUN 0/1
Mens' National Team