USA Earns Top Four Berth with 6-2 win over Greece in New York. U.S. Delights Home Crowd with Hard-Fought Victory Over Greek Team; Bailey Scores Two in Win.

The U.S. mens water polo team wrestled its way through to a 6-2 win over the Greeks in the headline game on opening night FINA World League Super Finals at the Eisenhower Park Aquatics Complex in New York (N.Y.). Team USA will now move on to play Hungary in a 5:45 p.m. game tomorrow (August 23), and is assured of placing in the tournaments top four.

New York, NY (PRWEB) August 25, 2003 -- The U.S. mens water polo team wrestled its way through to a 6-2 win over the Greeks in the headline game on opening night FINA World League Super Finals at the Eisenhower Park Aquatics Complex in New York (N.Y.). Team USA will now move on to play Hungary in a 5:45 p.m. game tomorrow (August 23), and is assured of placing in the tournaments top four.

The Greeks got the better of the last meeting between the two teams at World Championships, where they defeated a poor-shooting U.S. team in the lowest scoring game of the tournament, 4-2. Tonights contest was every bit as physical, cutting down on the goal output again, despite the lengthened nine-minute quarters.

It was a first quarter of tough breaks and lucky streaks for Team USA. Things were going USAs way early on, with Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA/Pepperdine/Malibu Water Polo) netting a goal on the teams first possession to make it a 1-0 game. But at 4:41, U.S. captain Wolf Wigo (New York, NY/Stanford/New York Athletic Club/Ethnikos Piraeus) was whistled for an exclusion on a Greek breakaway, then was tagged with a penalty for interfering with the free throw on the way out of the pool.

USA goalkeeper Brandon Brooks (Honolulu, HI/UCLA/Los Angeles Water Polo) then stopped the penalty attempt by Mazis Dimitrios in the low right corner, bringing the capacity crowd to its feet. Ryan Bailey (Long Beach, CA/UC Irvine/Newport Water Polo/JUG Dubrovnik) cashed in on the counterattack, taking a pass from Smith in the hole and putting it away to make it 2-0. Another penalty called on the U.S. later in the quarter resulted in a Greek mishandle at the five-meter line, keeping the score at 2-0.

The game, like the one prior, became increasingly physical in the second quarter. Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/Long Beach Shore) connected from the seven meter line with 5:46 to go, giving the U.S. a 3-0 edge. But Greece got player-advantage goals from Theodorous Chatzitheodoreus and Dimitrios to close the gap to 3-2 heading into halftime.

The contest continued to be plagued by overly-aggressive play, with kick outs flowing like water in the third quarter. Bailey broke loose from a defender at set with 4:51 to go and rifled one in to make it a 4-2 USA lead. Later, Dimitrios and USAs Omar Amr (Fullerton, CA/UC Irvine/Newport Water Polo) were called for dual game exclusions for a tangle in the trenches, but Greece was still not able to put together any offense, taking a zero in the quarter.

Things got even harrier in the final quarter. With just under five minutes remaining in the game, USA defender Layne Beaubien (Coronado, CA/Stanford/Olympic Club/Halkida, Crete) exited the game after suffering a gash across the bridge of his nose at the hand of a Greek player in transition. Following a short delay for an injury substitution, Chris Segesman (Santa Barbara, CA/Long Beach State/Los Angeles Water Polo) went high and right into the cage, sending the crowd into a tumultuous uproar. Wigo added an extra-man goal from the outside on the next possession to seal the win and cap the scoring at 6-2.

The physicality was the prevailing theme at each of the four press conferences on the night.

I got a bit emotional about it a few times," said Bailey. Its not fun to take a beating like that, but we won the game and thats the important thing."

The rules played into the game play tonight, according to each coach. U.S. head coach Ratko Rudic was no different, save for his approach to these games from here on out.

Our players can get great experience in games like this," he said. And if this is the way it will be called in the Olympics next year, then we have to continue to adjust so were prepared."

For Wigo, it was a sweet homecoming. The New York native threw his fists in the air in celebration after Segesmans goal following Beaubiens injury departure and was emphatic in his gratitude to the fans following the game.

When we played Greece at World Championships, we thought that we had outplayed them and that we deserved to win," he said. So we definitely wanted to win this game badly, but so did they. I think thats why you saw such a physical game tonight."

Team USA will now move on to face Olympic and World Champion Hungary in a 5:45 p.m. (EST) game tomorrow.

Serbia and Montenegro, who defeated the Netherlands, 15-9, will take on Italy at 4:15 p.m.

Serbia and Montenegro 15, Netherlands 9
Serbia and Montenegro (formerly Yugoslavia) flexed its offensive muscle on the first day of the FINA World League Super Final, ousting the Netherlands, 15-9. Serbia and Montenegro rattled off the first three goals of the game, getting two of them from Vanja Udovicic. The Dutch finally got on the board at the 4:40 mark of the first on a perimeter goal by Tjerk Kramer, but the European Champions scored the next three goals in succession to take a 6-1 lead by the 1:11 point.

The second quarter provided more of the same, albeit at a much slower pace. Serbia and Montenegro dictated the tempo the entire quarter, but only managed to outscore the Netherlands, 3-2. Kramer scored the highlight goal of the quarter, whirling in a backhand from three meters out at the start of the quarter.

The Dutch flipped the script in the third quarter, taking off on a 3-0 run with goals from three different players. Serbia and Montenegros Filip Filipovic put an end to the run with an extra-man goal from the outside, his fourth, with 2:21 left in the quarter. Heading into the fourth, Serbia and Montenegro held a 12-8 lead.

Mladjan Janovic and Dusko Pijetlovic netted goals at the start of the fourth for Serbia and Montenegro to make it a six-goal lead, putting the game out of reach for the duration.

Water Polo...New York Style
The 1,800-plus spectators that took in the first night of games at Eisenhower Park were not disappointed. A luxury-VIP box overlooked the action at one end of the pool and was complete with food and beverage. The venue was dressed to the nines with sponsor banners and flags, making for an wonderfully packaged evening at the pool.

The preparation that was remarkable," said Gianni Lonzi, chairman of the FINA Technical Committee. This is a wonderful venue and the spectators are being treated to a first-class presentation of this wonderful sport. The organizing committee has done a fantastic job."

Fans also got involved by way of a halftime ring-toss"-where contestants vie for prizes by throwing a water polo ball into a tube in the pool.

And it was just the first night...