Courtesy: USA Water Polo
SAO PAULO, Brazil – The USA Men’s National Team opened play at the FINA World Championship Qualification Tournament in Brazil with a 22-7 win over Argentina. Johnny Hooper (Los Angeles, CA/California/LA Premier) and Hannes Daube (Long Beach, CA/USC/North Irvine WPC) led the high scoring affair with five goals each. Alex Wolf (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Bruin) and Drew Holland (Orinda, CA/Stanford/Olympic Club) combined for 18 saves in net. Team USA returns to action tomorrow when they meet Brazil at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt. Live streaming of the tournament is set to begin on Thursday and can be accessed by clicking here. Team USA will meet Canada on Thursday at 2:15pm et/11:15am pt.
Team USA jumped out to a hot start claiming a 6-1 lead after the first quarter and a 12-1 advantage by halftime. They kept the offense rolling in the third quarter with a eight-goal outburst to go in front 20-3. Argentina got the upper hand in the fourth quarter outscoring Team USA 4-2 but by then the match was long decided as the United States won 22-7.
The United States went 7/10 on power plays and 5-5 on penalties with Argentina going 1/9 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties. Max Irving (Long Beach, CA/UCLA/NYAC) and Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/NYAC) added four goals apiece in the victory. The top two teams in this event will qualify for the FINA World Championship this summer in South Korea. Click here to see the full Team USA roster competing this week in Brazil.
Scoring
USA 22 (6, 6, 8, 2) H. Daube 5, J. Hooper 5, A. Bowen 4, M. Irving 4, B. Hallock 2, L. Cupido 1, C. Ramirez 1
ARG 7 (1, 0, 2, 4)
Saves – USA – A. Wolf 10, D. Holland 8
6×5 – USA – 7/10 – ARG – 1/9
Penalties – USA 5/5 – ARG – 2/2