Courtesy: USA Water Polo
USA Men 24 Puerto Rico 1
LIMA, Peru – The USA Men’s National Team claimed the Group A title at the 2019 Pan American Games following a 24-1 win over Puerto Rico. Hannes Daube (Long Beach, CA/USC/North Irvine WPC) and Marko Vavic (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA/USC/Trojan) scored five goals each to pace the USA attack with Alex Wolf (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA/Bruin) recording 10 saves in net.
Team USA finished group play at 3-0 and now moves on to the quarterfinal round on Thursday where they will meet Peru at 6pm local time/4pm pacific. No live streaming is available but fans can follow @USAWP on Twitter for live match updates. For more on the Pan American Games including schedules and results, click here.
Chancellor Ramirez (Pasadena, CA/UCLA/NYAC) got the scoring started for Team USA with two straight goals to open the match, part of a five goal output in the first quarter. Vavic followed with his first goal before Max Irving (Long Beach, CA/UCLA/NYAC) and Ben Hallock (Westlake Village, CA/Stanford/LA Premier) closed the quarter with goals.
In the second period Team USA once again piled up five goals. Alex Obert (Loomis, CA/Pacific/NYAC) started the scoring followed by the duo of Vavic and Daube teaming up for four goals to take a 10-0 lead into halftime. The offense was just getting started for the United States as seven more goals were scored in the third quarter. Obert scored twice in the quarter, the second tally giving Team USA a 14-0 lead with 2:35 to play in the period. Daube followed by scoring two in a row to make 16-0 and then Hallock closed out the period with a goal for a 17-0 lead after three.
Puerto Rico broke through in the fourth quarter with their first goal of the match but Team USA answered with seven more goals of their own. Irving scored twice early in the period to help build the lead and then Vavic finished things off scoring two goals late on the way to the 24-1 win.
Team USA went 8/10 on power plays and 3/3 on penalties while Puerto Rico went 1/5 on power plays with no penalties attempted.
Scoring – Stats
USA 24 (5, 5, 7, 7) M. Vavic 5, H. Daube 5, A. Obert 4, M. Irving 4, C. Ramirez 4, B. Hallock 2
PUR 1 (0, 0, 0 1) M. Montanez 1
Saves – USA – A. Wolf 10 – PUR – B. Avila 3
6×5 – USA – 8/10 – PUR – 1/5
Penalties – USA – 3/3 – PUR – 0/0
USA Women 23 Venezuela 3
The USA Women’s National Team claimed the Group A title at the 2019 Pan American Games after defeating Venezuela 23-3. Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford/NYAC), Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA/CdM Aquatics), Jamie Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) and Kiley Neushul (Isla Vista, CA/Stanford/NYAC) all scored three goals in the win as Team USA finished 3-0 in group play. Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton/NYAC) pitched a shutout in the first half and then was relieved in goal in the second half by Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA/SOCAL) and Melissa Seidemann (Walnut Creek, CA/Stanford/NYAC). The trio combined for two saves.
Team USA returns to play in quarterfinal action on Thursday when they take on Peru at 11am local time/9am pacific. No live streaming is available but fans can follow @USAWP on Twitter for live match updates. For more on the Pan American Games including schedules and results, click here.
Team USA took control of the match with an 11-goal outburst in the first quarter. Aria Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford/SET) scored twice in the opening ninety seconds of the match for a 2-0 lead. Musselman scored two of the next three goals and Team USA went up 5-0 with 4:21 left in the quarter. Six more goals followed capped by a delivery from Seidemann for the 11-0 margin after the opening eight minutes.
Stephania Haralabidis (Athens, Greece/USC/NYAC) opened and closed the second quarter with goals. In between Kiley Neushul scored twice and Steffens added another to help make it a 16-0 USA lead at halftime. In the third Johnson headed into the field and was replaced by Fattal in the cage. Venezuela was able to get on the board with one goal but the United States countered with four scores of their own for a 20-1 lead after three.
In the fourth Seidemann took over the goal while Johnson got the chance to work on offense. With 1:34 left Johnson connected on a score out of two meters for a 22-3 advantage. Steffens added one final goal and Team USA took the match 23-3. The United States went 8/9 on power plays and 1/2 on penalties while Venezuela was 0/1 on power plays with no penalties attempted.
Scoring – Stats
USA 23 (11, 5, 4, 3) M. Steffens 3, M. Musselman 3, J. Neushul 3, K. Neushul 3, M. Fischer 2, A. Fischer 2, A. Williams 2, M. Seidemann 2, S. Haralabidis 2, A. Johnson 1
VEN 3 (0, 0, 1, 2) S. Torres 2, S. Martinez 1
Saves – USA – A. Johnson 2, R. Fattal 0, M. Seidemann 0 – VEN – S. Martinez 1
6×5 – USA – 8/9 – VEN – 0/1
Penalties – USA – 1/2 – VEN – 0/0