The USA Men’s National Team won 21-20 in a shootout over Italy in the series’ deciding game earlier tonight at Santa Clara University. Adrian Weinberg made 15 saves in goal, and the offence was led by four-goal scorers Hannes Daube and Chase Dodd.
US Vs Italy Water Polo Score
The United States let Italy come back from a two-goal deficit in the nick of time to send the game into overtime. To seal the victory for Team USA in the penalty shootout, Ben Hallock scored in the fifth and final round and goalie Weinberg made the sole save of the shootout.
The U.S. team will compete in the FINA World League Super Final on July 22 in Strasbourg, France. On Monday, the US squad will be revealed.
While still reeling from yesterday’s setback to Italy at Stanford, Team USA came out firing on all cylinders to take an early 2-0 lead on goals from Chase Dodd and Dylan Woodhead. After Italy scored two in a row to equalise the game, Alex Bowen scored on the power play to give the Americans the lead for good, 4-2.
The Italians had the last word in the first, scoring with a second to play to make the score 3-3. Similar to the previous quarter, the second quarter saw the United States take a two-goal lead before Italy staged a comeback.
With 5:44 left in the first half, Italy took the lead for the first time on a touchdown by Edoardo Di Somma after trailing for the first time, 5-3. In the subsequent minutes, Daube scored to make the score 6-6 at the break.
With 8-7 advantage and 6:19 left in the third quarter, Tyler Abramson scored twice to open the scoring for Team USA. Over the next few minutes, Marko Vavic would score two goals, the second coming with :25 seconds remaining in the session to give Team USA their highest lead of the night, 11-8.
Luca Damonte scored for Italy in the dying seconds of the third to tie the game at 11 and send the game into overtime.
U.S. Team led by four goals twice in the fourth, and it looked like they would cruise to victory. Dodd scored first to make it 13-9, and then Jake Ehrhardt scored to make it 14-10. Dodd scored with 2:27 remaining to give the United States a 16-13 lead, despite Italy’s best efforts to close the gap. That cliff’s edge isn’t stable.
When Italy’s deficit shrank to 16-14, they played 7-on-6 and sent goalie Gianmarco Nicosia into the offensive zone, where he scored from close range with 18 seconds remaining to make the score 16-15. The next time the United States had control, Italy applied pressure, and the cunning Damonte dove below, only to surface and capture the ball as time expired.
A left-handed player tied the score with four seconds remaining as Italy staged a miraculous comeback. Damonte was first in the shootout, but Weinberg was there to intercept his attempt. Hallock’s goal sealed the deal after all the other shooters had scored.
Scoring
USA 21 (3, 3, 5, 5) (3, 3, 5, 5) (5) To sum it all up: H. Daube 4, C. Dodd 4, A. Bowen 3, T. Abramson 3, M. Vavic 2, B. Hallock 2, D. Woodhead 2, J. Ehrhardt 1,
F. Ferrero 5, F. Cassia 3, L. Damonte 3, F. Condemi 2, A. Mladosich 2, V. Renzuto 2, G. Cannella 1, E. Di Somma 1, G. Nicosia 1, for an Italian total of 20 (3, 3, 3, 7).
A. Weinberg had 15 saves for the Americans while G. Nicosia had 8 for the Italians.
Usage restrictions and penalties in the United States Score: USA 5; Italy 4; Penalty Kicks: USA 5; Italy 4. Thanks for reading our article US Vs Italy Water Polo Score.
