USA Men Open World Cup With 10-6 Win Over China
7/27/2010 12:00:00 AM
Scoresheet
Oradea, Romania - July 27 - The USA Men's National Team opened the FINA World Cup with a 10-6 win over China behind two goals each from Tim Hutten (Seal Beach, CA/Newport WPF), Thomas Hopkins (Coronado, CA/Olympic Club), and Michael Sharf (Orinda, CA/Olympic Club). Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/NYAC) and Andy Stevens (Villa Park, CA/NYAC) combined in the cage for 14 saves.
Team USA opened up a 1-0 lead after the first quarter and went up 3-1 in the second period before China rallied to within a goal at the 2:39 mark. The teams closed out the period exchanging scores and the United States went up 4-3 at halftime. In the third quarter Team USA opened things up a bit jumping out to a 7-3 lead with 2:03 to go in the period on a goal by Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/Newport WPF).
Leading 7-4 to start the fourth the United States added a goal to go up 8-4 and seemingly put the game away. China looked to rally with a score to make it 8-5 but consecutive goals from Sharf put the match to rest and the USA came away winners at 10-6. The USA went 2/3 on power plays and 1/2 on penalty shots, China was 4/8 on power plays.
"It was a good opener to get on a winning track," said USA Head Coach Terry Schroeder. "We played well with a lot of opportunities, we just need to put the ball on the net. We have a big game against Serbia tomorrow."
Scoring
USA 10 (1, 3, 3, 3) T. Hutten 2, T. Hopkins 2, M. Sharf 2, T. Corcoran 1, T. Azevedo 1, R. Bailey 1, J. Powers 1
CHN 6 (0, 3, 1, 2)
Saves - USA - M. Moses 12, A. Stevens 2
6x5 - USA 2/3 - CHN 4/8
Penalties - USA 1/2
Mens' National Team