Tokyo, Japan - August 8 - The U.S. Olympic Men's Water Polo Team took sixth place at the Tokyo Olympic Games following a 14-11 loss to Croatia. The result equals the second best Olympic finish for Team USA over the last 25 years - tying a sixth place mark at the 2000 Olympic Games. Johnny Hooper, Alex Obert, Ben Hallock, Alex Bowen and Max Irving all scored two goals in the win with Drew Holland recording 16 saves in net. Team USA ends their run in Tokyo at 3-5 with wins over Japan, South Africa and Italy. A replay of the match is available via the NBC Sports app or by clicking here.
Team USA got off to a hot start as Hooper broke
Croatia surged ahead in the second quarter, scoring the first three in a row in the period to take the lead at 5-3 with 5:09 to play. Team USA battled back scoring two of the next three goals as Bowen and Hallock converted on power plays for a 6-5 game at halftime. A minute into the third quarter Croatia pushed ahead at 7-5 but Obert converted on the next possession for a 7-6 game. Croatia went on a tear after that, scoring the next three goals in a row to take their largest lead of the match at 10-6 with two minutes left in the quarter. The United States got one back with 1:20 to play in the period as Irving converted to make it 10-7 going to the fourth.
Early in the fourth Croatia went up 11-7 on a Lovre Milos goal, but Team USA wouldn't fold. Ben Stevenson converted on a penalty shot to make it 11-8. With 3:04 to play in the match, Hooper delivered on the power play to make it 11-9 Croatia. A minute later it was Hallock hitting on the power play to draw Team USA within one at 11-10 with about two minutes to play. That was as close as Team USA would get in this one. Croatia scored three in a row in a hurry to build a 14-10 cushion. A final outside strike from Obert delivered the final score at 14-11 in favor of Croatia.
Team USA went 6/13 on power plays and 1/1 on penalty shots while Croatia went 5/14 on power plays and 2/2 on penalties.
Scoring - Stats
USA 11 (3, 2, 2, 4) J. Hooper 2, A. Obert 2, B. Hallock 2, A. Bowen 2, M. Irving 2, B. Stevenson 1
CRO 14 (2, 4, 4, 4) L. Bukic 3, J. Garcia 2, L. Loncar 2, M. Jokovic 2, A. Vukicevic 2, L. Milos 1, M. Macan 1, P. Obradovic 1
Saves - USA - D. Holland 16 - CRO - I. Marcelic 11
6x5 - USA - 6/13 - CRO 5/14
Penalties - USA - 1/1 - CRO 2/2
Flash Quotes
Dejan Udovicic, Team USA Head Coach
On finishing sixth
"I need to congratulate the guys; they try every game and their progress is visible. I think this Olympic Games (was) building the confidence for the future and for us. It's not that we wanted to finish with a defeat, that's the way it is. We need to take everything from this tournament for the future and learn and remember the feeling we are playing on the last day of competition, which is great. This is a younger team…developing in the right direction and (will) be ready to play in Paris on the same last day but for higher positions."
Building on this for Paris
"Take everything from this tournament, we will analyze everything step by step. The core of the group should remain the same, a great thing. We've got players who have stepped up who are visible to everyone worldwide. We are going from this tournament with our heads up. We are getting closer and closer every year, our goal should be to medal in Paris."
Ben Hallock
On Team USA's run in Tokyo
"We had a chance, that's all we can ask for. It all comes down to the crossover game, we had a chance to get into the semifinal which is all you can ask for in sport. We had a chance in that game to win, obviously disappointed that that didn't go our way, I was super proud of how we bounced back to Italy. The last game was tough, I thought our energy was good, Croatia is an extremely talented team, probably a team that should be in the top four. That's the way the Olympics goes, but just wanted to send some guys off on the right note today, I hope we did that, even though we didn't get the win. Very proud of the group of guys."
On the team fighting for each other
"We were fired up to do that (win 5th), obviously we lost the game but it shows that this group is a special group of guys. That we fought for each other even after we knew that we weren't fighting for the podium was special."
Dejan Udovicic, Team USA Head Coach
On finishing sixth
"I need to congratulate the guys; they try every game and their progress is visible. I think this Olympic Games (was) building the confidence for the future and for us. It's not that we wanted to finish with a defeat, that's the way it is. We need to take everything from this tournament for the future and learn and remember the feeling we are playing on the last day of competition, which is great. This is a younger team…developing in the right direction and (will) be ready to play in Paris on the same last day but for higher positions."
Building on this for Paris
"Take everything from this tournament, we will analyze everything step by step. The core of the group should remain the same, a great thing. We've got players who have stepped up who are visible to everyone worldwide. We are going from this tournament with our heads up. We are getting closer and closer every year, our goal should be to medal in Paris."
Ben Hallock
On Team USA's run in Tokyo
"We had a chance, that's all we can ask for. It all comes down to the crossover game, we had a chance to get into the semifinal which is all you can ask for in sport. We had a chance in that game to win, obviously disappointed that that didn't go our way, I was super proud of how we bounced back to Italy. The last game was tough, I thought our energy was good, Croatia is an extremely talented team, probably a team that should be in the top four. That's the way the Olympics goes, but just wanted to send some guys off on the right note today, I hope we did that, even though we didn't get the win. Very proud of the group of guys."
On the team fighting for each other
"We were fired up to do that (win 5th), obviously we lost the game but it shows that this group is a special group of guys. That we fought for each other even after we knew that we weren't fighting for the podium was special."
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