U.S. Gets Offensive in Win Over West Germany : Americans Get Measure of Revenge for World Cup Loss in Water Polo Exhibition
Whatever the United States men’s water polo team was missing last month, it found Wednesday night in an 11-9 exhibition victory over West Germany in UC San Diego’s Canyonview Pool.
The match was the first between the teams since West Germany beat the U.S., 8-7, in the FINA World Cup V at Thessalonika, Greece in early June.
“We played terrible (at the World Cup),” Bill Barnett, the U.S. coach, said. “We had no intensity. They were ahead 5-0. That was game we should have won.”
Barnett didn’t have to talk about what should have been Wednesday. The victory came in the opener of a five-match exhibition series through California. Barnett hopes his team will generate more offense as it prepares for the Pan American Games in August.
The U.S. never trailed West Germany in the exhibition opener and took a 10-6 lead early in the third quarter. The teams played a sloppy fourth quarter, and West Germany cut the U.S. lead to 10-8 on Derk Theismann’s sixth goal with 3:02 remaining.
But the U.S. settled down and passed effectively. Kevin Robertson scored on a power play to give the U.S. an 11-8 lead with 2:21 left.
“We lost intensity (in the fourth quarter),” Barnett said. “If they had been ready, they would have caught us. We could have scored a couple of goals early in the fourth period and put the game away.”
The teams traded goals for most of the first half, but then the U.S. scored twice in the second quarter to take an 8-6 lead.
The U.S.’s Jeff Campbell opened the third quarter with a goal at the 6:39 mark to increase the lead to 9-6. Robertson scored 38 seconds later on a penalty shot after West Germany’s Frank Otto was called for a foul in the four-meter box. The fourth unanswered goal gave the U.S. a 10-6 lead.
Seven players scored for the U.S., which was led by Robertson’s three goals. Craig Wilson recorded 12 saves for U.S.
In a preliminary game, Nova Voslau of Irvine defeated Sunset San Diego B, 11-6. The U.S.-West Germany series continues Sunday with a match at Newport Beach.
