Courtesy: USA Water Polo
Volos, Greece – February 15 – The USA Men’s Senior National Team returned to action for the first time since the Tokyo Olympic Games with a match against Greece in Volos. Team USA came up short 16-13, despite four goals from Ben Hallock alongside 13 combined saves from Drew Holland and Jack Turner. To watch a replay of the match, click here.
Greece took the early lead after going in front 3-2 in the opening quarter. Team USA had a strong second quarter with five goals to level the score at 7-7 at intermission. In the third, Greece started to pull away building a two goal lead at 12-10 going to the fourth. In the fourth, Greece built a three-goal cushion and held off any comeback attempts from Team USA on their way to the 16-13 victory. Team USA went 6/12 on power plays with no penalties attempted while Greece went 6/10 on power plays and 2/2 on penalty shots.
The match also marked the return of 2016 Olympian Thomas Dunstan to Team USA play for the first time since the 2017 FINA World Championships, he added one goal in the loss.
Scoring
USA 13 (2, 5, 3, 3) B. Hallock 4, A. Bowen 3, B. Stevenson 2, D. Woodhead 2, M. Irving 1, T. Dunstan 1
GRE 16 (3, 4, 5, 4)
Saves – USA – D. Holland 8, J. Turner 5
6×5 – USA – 6/12 – GRE – 6/10
Penalties – USA – 0/0 – GRE – 2/2