USA Men Roll Canada 17-4; Advance To Meet Hungary In Quarterfinals
7/24/2011 12:00:00 AM
Shanghai, China - July 24 - The USA Men's National Team made it back to back victories and earned a trip into the quarterfinals with a dominant 17-4 victory over Canada. Team USA now moves on to face Hungary on Tuesday at 2pm local time/11pm pst (Monday), in a rematch of the Gold Medal final from the 2008 Olympic Games. Four different players tallied three goals on the day including Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA/Pepperdine/NYAC), Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA/UC-Irvine/Newport WPF), Tim Hutten (Seal Beach, CA/UC-Irvine/Newport WPF),and Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/UC-Irvine/Newport WPF). Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, CA/Pepperdine/NYAC) and Andy Stevens (Villa Park, CA/LMU/NYAC) combined in the cage to stop 12 shots.
The United States started off with a misfire failing to convert a penalty shot attempt less than a minute into the match but quickly made amends when Hutten scored his first of the night from the right side for a 1-0 lead. Not long after the ball went inside to Powers who delivered a turnaround fadeaway shot to beat the keeper and post a 2-0 lead. On the next trip down the pool Canada drew a five meter penalty only to miss off the post but they would likewise atone for the error with a power play goal minutes later to draw within 2-1. Barely twenty seconds had elapsed before the United States struck again when Smith scored on a power play for a 3-1 lead. That was followed at the 2:11 mark with Shea Buckner (Villa Park, CA/USC/NYAC) nicely feeding Bailey in front of the cage for an easy tally and a 4-1 lead. Canada got one back on another power play but that was answered with just :16 remaining in the period as Peter Hudnut (Encino, CA/Stanford/NYAC) drew a five meter and Brian Alexander (Santa Ana, CA/UCSB/Olympic Club) buried the shot for a 5-2 advantage after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter the United States blew the game open with a cavalcade of goals. Early in the period Adam Wright (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/NYAC) found his way to the cage and jammed one past the keeper for a 6-2 lead. Then Bailey got free again on the inside for a score followed by Hudnut banging one in off the post on a cross cage delivery and Team USA was in command up 8-2. Canada then missed another penalty shot off the post and the United States took advantage on the next possession as with the shot clock set to expire Smith threw a rope from beyond six meters that found the net and extended the lead to 9-1. At the 2:17 mark Hutten fired in another score, this time on a power play and then Bailey closed the period with a powerful effort meeting a lob pass towards the cage at the same time as the goalie only to bat it past the keeper for a score and an 11-2 lead at halftime.
Defense proved a strong point throughout as evidenced by the USA killing off a six on four advantage for the Canadians to open the third quarter. Canada did break through with a power play goal moments later but that was answered by another Smith shot from distance and kept the USA in front 12-3. Canada got another score back at the 4:30 mark to come within 12-4 but the United States would button up the defense the rest of the way. In the meantime the goals kept coming for the red, white, and blue. Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/NYAC) took a great lead pass from Peter Varellas (Moraga, CA/Stanford/Olympic Club) for a score, Powers got loose immediately following a Canadian exclusion and put home the chip shot, and then Hutten buried a shot from outside and by the end of the quarter Team USA was up 15-4.
Things slowed down in the fouth quarter. It was't until the 3:24 mark that a goal was scored coming from Varellas as he drove to the cage. Then a minute later Varellas hit Powers with a good look for the score and the United States went up 17-4 which is how the match would end. Team USA went 4/6 on power plays and 1/2 on penalties while Canada was 3/9 on power plays and 0/2 on penalties. Moses tallied eight saves while Stevens added four working the fourth quarter.
Scoring - Scoresheet
USA 17 (5, 6, 4, 2) J. Powers 3, J. Smith 3, R. Bailey 3, T. Hutten 3, P. Varellas 1, P. Hudnut 1. T. Azevedo 1, A. Wright, B. Alexander 1
CAN 4 (2, 0, 2, 0)
Saves - USA - M. Moses 8, A. Stevens 4
6x5 - USA 4/6 - CAN 3/9
Penalties - USA 1/2 - CAN 0/2
"The coaches got us very focused for this game. We wanted to make a statement in this game. It's against Canada and we know no matter what we're going to be playing Canada in the Pan American Games and we wanted to let them know that we are a team to be taken seriously. We haven't been gelling and having the chemistry we wanted in the tournament and it feels like we are gettnig it back. Now it's up to one game at a time and a rematch of the Gold Medal Game (from Beijing)." Merrill Moses - USA Goalkeeper
"You never know what's going to happen, you have to take every game indivdually. We just had to stick to our game plan. We weren't sticking to our game plan and playing as a team and we brought that back together and now we have a big game against Hungary to get to the final four." Merrill Moses - USA Goalkeeper
"I think they (the team) started to get excited about playing. They came to play with a little sense of urgency, which is what we've been lacking, we've been a little bit complacent. I think they are taking pride in how they play defense and hopefully that will carry over to the next few games." Terry Schroeder, USA Head Coach
"We have to force them to score six on six, we can't give them a lot of unecessary 6 on 5s. We've gotta keep that goal count low, against these guys if we can go end to end and keep them from making any runs we got a chance to stay in it but we have to play a controlled game. It can't be a high scoring game, they'll beat us in a shootout. We can beat them in a 7-6 game for sure, I feel confident we can, that's the type of game we have to play." Terry Schroeder, USA Head Coach on preparing for Hungary
Mens' National Team