Stanford’s Bret Bonanni did his job, but it still wasn’t enough as the USA Men’s National Team dropped a 10-9 water polo decision to Australia on Wednesday in the second round of the FINA World League Super Final in Bergamo, Italy.
Bonanni scored three times as did Cardinal grad Tony Azevedo. Recent Stanford grad Alex Bowen scored once for Team USA.
The back-and-forth game was decided late in the match as Australia scored two goals in the final two minutes to thwart a Team USA rally.
The United States closes out group play on Thursday when it meets Italy.
Australia got off to a strong start, leading 2-1 after the first eight minutes and 4-1 at halftime. Team USA battled back in the third quarter, outscoring Australia by 4-2 to draw within one at 6-5 going to the fourth.
The United States tied the match at 6 early in the fourth, setting off back-and-forth scoring for the remainder of the contest.
Aaron Younger was the star for Australia. After Team USA tied the game at 7, Australia went ahead 8-7 and then Younger scored one of his five goals on the day to make it 9-7 with 1:23 to play.
A late goal from Bowen was not be enough to bring Team USA all the way back.
Power plays told the story of the match with the United States going 0 for 9 and Australia converting on eight of 11 opportunities.
By Palo Alto Online Sports/USA Water Polo
By Palo Alto Online Sports/USA Water Polo
By Palo Alto Online Sports/USA Water Polo