WATER POLO: USA Men Fall to Hungary 11-8 For Second Straight Loss In Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan - July 31 - The U.S. Men's Olympic Water Polo Team dropped their second straight match at the Tokyo Olympic Games, falling to Hungary 11-8 in their fourth match in group play. Alex Bowen and Ben Hallock each scored two goals to lead the offense with Hallock drawing a pile of exclusions. Alex Wolf went the

distance in net recording 10 saves as Team USA moves to 2-2 in Group A action. A full replay of the match is available by clicking here and will also air as part of Olympic coverage on NBC starting at 8am eastern/5am pacific and on NBC Sports Network starting at 10:30am eastern/7:30am pacific. Team USA is back in the pool on Monday as they close out group play against Greece at 11:30am local time (10:30pm et/7:30pm pt on August 1). The match will air LIVE on CNBC and can be streamed by clicking here. 

Hungary got the scoring going early in this one, opening with a 1-0 lead. Bowen had a quick answer, tying the match at 1-1 with 5:02 to play in the first. With 90 seconds to play in the period Hungary cashed in on a power play to take a 2-1 lead into the second. Team USA started to get rolling in the second as Johnny Hooper converted on a power play in the opening minute to tie the match at 2-2. Three minutes later Hallock hit on the power play to give Team USA their first lead of the match at 3-2. With under two minutes to play in the half the two teams went on a flurry of goal trading. Hungary tied it on a Denes Varga goal only to see Hallock respond on the next possession for a 4-3 lead. Hungary tied the game on their next possession and then Balazs Harai gave Hungary the lead with an eyes closed backhand shot out of two meters for a 5-4 edge at halftime. 

In the third quarter Hungary made a strong push, holding the United States scoreless while adding three goals of their own. Krisztian Manhercz started the scoring around the five minute mark and finished it with less than two minutes to play in the period helping Hungary to an 8-4 lead going to the fourth. Varga put Hungary up 9-4 on a penalty shot early in the fourth and then Team USA started on the comeback trail. Alex Obert scored on the next possession followed by a Luca Cupido power play score less than a minute later. A few minutes later Hannes Daube scored on another power play and Team USA quickly got the deficit down to two at 9-7. The rally would stop there as Manhercz buried a power play goal with under two minutes to play in the match to put Hungary back up three. The two sides traded goals as the clock wound down with Hungary claiming the three goal victory.

Team USA went 5/14 on power plays with no penalties attempted while Hungary went 4/11 on power plays and 1/1 on penalties. 

Scoring - Stats
USA 8 (1, 3, 0, 4) B. Hallock 2, A. Bowen 2, J. Hooper 1, A. Obert 1, H. Daube 1, L. Cupido 1
HUN 11 (2, 3, 3, 3) K. Manhercz 3, M. Vamos 2, D. Varga 2, B. Harai 1, T. Mezei 1, M. Pasztor 1, N. Hosnyanszky 1
Saves - USA - A. Wolf 10 - HUN - V. Nagy 8
6x5 - USA - 5/14 - HUN - 4/11
Penalties - USA - 0/0 - HUN - 1/1

Flash Quote - Dejan Udovicic, Team USA Head Coach

On where they lost the match:

"I think our problems started in the second quarter. We kicked ourselves as we didn't score from our man-up chances. They are the European champions. If you don't convert your chances, they're going to punish you, and that's exactly what happened."