Courtesy: Water Polo Australia
The Australian men’s water polo team have upset powerhouse water polo nation USA at the FINA World League Intercontinental Cup in Peru, 12-11.
The win places the Aussie Sharks atop of the competition ladder, giving them a much needed confidence boost as they head into the cross over finals tomorrow, where they will meet Brazil.
Having finished first in the preliminary competition, the Aussie Sharks have earnt a qualifying position for the FINA World League Super Finals from 23-29 July in Strasbourg, France.
Tokyo Olympians and co-captains Nathan Power and Blake Edwards were on fire for the Sharks, leading with experience, and remained composed at crucial points of the game.
Edwards was the top scorer for the Sharks with four goals, followed by Power with three and Luke Pavillard with two.
The Aussie Sharks have a long standing rivalry with the United States, and Edwards said he was pleased with the teams performance today.
“That was a massive win for us, there was a lot riding on the game as we wanted to seed ourselves in first position heading into the cross overs,” Edwards said.
“There’s always a big rivalry against the USA, and they threw everything at us but full credit to our boys.
“They showed a lot of maturity and composure today to take out the win so I’m super pleased,” he said.
The Aussie Sharks will now play fourth place Brazil in the cross over matches tomorrow, with the winner advancing to Monday’s gold medal match.
Having played Brazil earlier in the tournament, the Sharks will look to continue this momentum into tomorrow’s game.
“We’ve got another really tough game tomorrow against Brazil, they’ve been playing some excellent water polo,” Edwards said.
“We had a really close game with them in the rounds, so we’re expecting another really physical, tough hit out with them.
“We’ve learnt a lot from the last time we played them, so we just need to execute our game plan and hopefully stay composed again.
‘“And then fingers crossed we come out with another win,” he said.
The Aussie Sharks will play Brazil at 11am AEDT on Sunday 13 March. The Aussie Stingers will also be back in action tomorrow, up against Colombia at 3am AEDT.
To watch the replay – click here
For full results – click here
Courtesy: USA Water Polo
Lima, Peru – March 11 – The USA Men’s National Team dropped their first game at the FINA Intercontinental Cup, falling to Australia 12-11 earlier today. Ben Stevenson scored three goals to lead the offense with Adrian Weinberg recording 13 saves in net. A full replay of the match is available below. Team USA is back in the pool tomorrow in semifinal action against Canada at 5:30pm et/2:30pm pt. Live streaming is available by clicking here.
Australia took the lead early holding a 3-2 edge after the opening eight minutes. Team USA buckled down in the second quarter outscoring Australia 2-0 to go ahead 4-3 at intermission. The offenses exploded in the third with nine combined goals as Australia tied the game at 8-8 with a five goal surge. In the fourth the Aussies were able to find the net one more time to snare the one goal win. Team USA went 2/6 on power plays and 2/3 on penalties while Australia went 4/7 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties.
Scoring
USA 11 (2, 2, 4, 3) B. Stevenson 3, T. Gruwell 2, C. Dodd 2, T. Abramson 1, S. Rhodes 1, D. Woodhead 1, J. Ehrhardt 1
AUS 12 (3, 0, 5, 4) B. Edwards 4, N. Power 3, L. Pavillard 2, C. Negus 1, T. McJannett 1, T. Putt 1
Saves – USA – A. Weinberg 13, – AUS – N. Porter 4
6×5 – USA – 2/6 – AUS – 4/7
Penalties – USA – 2/3 – AUS – 1/1