USA Men Outlast Brazil 8-5 On Day Two Of Pan American Games
10/24/2011 12:00:00 AM
Guadalajara, Mexico - October 24 - The USA Water Polo Men's National Team got just about all they could handle for three quarters from Brazil before pulling away late for an 8-5 victory on day two of the Pan American Games at the Scotiabank Aquatic Center. A shot from beyond five meters drew Brazil to 5-4 with just three seconds remaining in the third quarter but the United States countered in the fourth as Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, Calif) almost single-handedly put the Brazilians away. Bailey drew a five meter penalty a minute into the quarter which was converted by Tim Hutten (Seal Beach, Calif.) for a 6-4 advantage. That was followed by two straight scores from Bailey and Team USA built a comfortable lead at 8-4 with 4:54 to play in the contest. A late goal from Brazil with less than two minutes remaining did not factor in the decision.
In the first quarter it was all Team USA as they opened up a 2-0 advantage but Brazil got on the board thirty seconds into the second period for a 2-1 game. The United States scored two of the next three goals and held a 4-2 lead at halftime. Midway through the third period Peter Varellas (Moraga, Calif.) redirected a dish from Layne Beaubien (Coronado, Calif.) right into the cage and Team USA rebuilt a three goal lead at 5-2. The moment was fleeting as Brazil spent the rest of the quarter erasing the deficit to trail by just one at the end of the period. Hutten and Bailey led the attack with two goals while Varellas, Beaubien, JW Krumpholz (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) all contributed goals. Merrill Moses (Palos Verdes, Calif.) went the distance in net halting six shots.
The United States is back in action tomorrow to close out group play with a match against Argentina at 2:30pm cst.
Scoring - Scoresheet
USA 8 (2, 2, 1, 3) T. Hutten 2, R. Bailey 2, P. Varellas 1, J. Powers 1, L. Beaubien 1, J. Krumpholz 1
BRA 5 (0, 2, 2, 1)
Saves - USA - M. Moses 6
6x5 - USA - BRA -
Penalties - USA 2/2- BRA 0/0
Flash Quotes
"I think it was a good place for this to happen, obviously the guys come in here, especially after beating Canada 17-4 at World Championships, thinking that we can just walk through, but we can't, you have to show up and play every game. I think it was a good wake up call for us." Terry Schroeder, USA Head Coach
"We didn't come out nearly as hard and as strong as we could have. I think in that game we played at maybe 50 percent and that's unacceptable. We are going to have to come out and change our way of playing. Even though we won the game we still have to come out stronger, more focused and ready to play. We have three games left and this is going to decide if we go to the Olympic Games or not, so we really have to focus and get on the same page and start to play stronger." Tim Hutten, USA Defender
Mens' National Team