US Men’s WP Split Series With Serbia After Finale Canceled Due To High Winds

See below for recaps from the first two matches.

San Diego, CA – The Men’s Senior National Team took down defending Olympic Champion Serbia 13-12 in front of a sold out crowd at Cathedral Catholic High School on Wednesday night. Ben Hallock scored four goals and Alex Bowen added three to lead Team USA’s offense while Alex Wolf and Jack Turner split time in the net combining for six saves. Next up the Men’s Senior National Team takes on Serbia on Friday, December 20th at Torrance Aquatic Center in Torrance, CA. Click here for tickets. Click here to re-watch this game.

Team USA came streaking out of the gates as Hallock and Max Irving found the back of the net on back-to-back possessions to put Team USA up 2-0. Serbia responded well as they finished the quarter on a 4-1 run to take a 4-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. Team USA replied with their own run as they outscored Serbia 4-1 with Chancellor Ramirez firing home to put the USA up 7-5, but Serbia answered with a goal as Team USA took a one goal lead of 7-6 into halftime.

Serbia fought back in the third quarter as they went on a 2-1 run to tie the game at 8-8, but Bennett Williams responded with his first Senior Team goal on the power play to put Team USA up 9-8 and Hallock added another on the power play before the end of the quarter to give Team USA a 10-8 advantage at the break. Serbia didn’t let up though as they rallied to get within a goal three times before Bowen put Team USA back up on top by two at 13-11 on a penalty shot with 1:18 left. Serbia were able to pull a goal back late but it was too little too late as Team USA won 13-12.

Team USA went 5/11 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties while Serbia went 5/13 on power plays and did not attempt a penalty.

Scoring
USA 13 (3, 4, 3, 3) B. Hallock 4, A. Bowen 3, J. Hooper 1, B. Stevenson 1, L. Cupido 1, B. Williams 1, C. Ramirez 1, M. Irving 1
SRB 12 (4, 2, 2, 4) M. Aleksic 3, F. Filipovic 3, S. Rasovic 3, V. Rasovic 1, N. Vico 1, D. Gogov 1
6×5 – USA – 5/11 – SRB – 5/13
Penalties – USA – 2/2 – SRB – 0/0
Saves – USA – J. Turner and A. Wolf 6 – SRB – G. Pijetlovic 10

Torrance, CA – The Men’s Senior National Team dropped the second game of their exhibition series as they fell 16-11 to Serbia in front of a sold out crowd at Torrance Aquatic Center on Friday night. Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/NYAC) scored four goals to lead Team USA’s offense while Drew Holland (Orinda, CA/Stanford) and Jack Turner (Fremont, CA/UC San Diego/Tritons) split time in the net with Holland recording three saves and Turner notching one save. Next up the Men’s Senior National Team wraps up their exhibition series with Serbia on Sunday, December 22 at Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, CA. Tickets are sold out for this game. Click here to re-watch exhibition game one and two.

The first quarter was back and forth as Team USA delivered the first strike with Ben Hallock delivering a power play goal to put Team USA up 1-0, but Serbia responded to even the game at 1-1. Johnny Hooper would rifle in another on the power play to make it 2-1, but Serbia closed the quarter on a 2-0 run to take a 3-2 lead into the break. Bowen opened the third quarter scoring to tie the game again, but Serbia had an answer for every Team USA goal as they held a 5-4 lead at halftime.

Serbia outscored Team USA 3-1 to start the third quarter, but Team USA fought back as Bowen and Tyler Abramson found the net on back-to-back possessions with Abramson scoring his first for the Senior Team to pull the USA back within a goal trailing 8-7. Serbia wouldn’t be deterred though as they scored two goals to reestablish their three goal lead, but Johnny Hooper ripped home a late goal as Serbia led 10-8 at the end of the third quarter. Team USA couldn’t keep up with Serbia in the fourth as they were outscored 6-3 eventually falling by the final score of 16-11.

Team USA went 4/15 on power plays and 0/3 on penalties while Serbia went 1/5 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties.

Scoring
USA 11 (2, 2, 4, 3) A. Bowen 4, J. Hooper 2, B. Hallock 2, B. Stevenson 1, T. Abramson 1, M. Irving 1
SRB 16 (3, 2, 5, 6) D. Mandic 5, M. Kuc 2, N. Dedovic 2, N. Jaksic 2, V. Rasovic 1, S. Randjelovic 1, S. Rasovic 1, D. Gogov 1, S. Mitrovic 1
6×5 – USA – 4/15 – SRB – 1/5
Penalties – USA – 0/3 – SRB – 1/1
Saves – USA – D. Holland 3 – J. Turner 1 – SRB – B. Mitrovic 8 – S. Zivojinovic 6