Defensive Strategy Nets Victory for U.S. Team : Water polo: It holds off Australia to win, 5-4, and advance to gold-medal match at Alamo Cup.

U.S. water polo Coach Rich Corso is using a defense-first strategy in preparing his young team for future international battles, and Saturday he enjoyed the early returns.

The United States beat Australia, 5-4, in the semifinals of the Alamo Cup at Corona del Mar High School to advance to the gold-medal match at 2:30 p.m. today against Hungary. Hungary beat Cuba, 14-10, in the other semifinal.

It was a satisfying victory because Australia, which had never won a medal in a major international competition, beat the United States for the bronze medal at the FINA World Cup last year, but more importantly to Corso, it showed that the U.S. defense is jelling.

“Our emphasis has always been on defense,” Corso said. “We did not have a breakdown defensively today. We broke down offensively a couple of times though. We had opportunities to almost put the game out of reach.”

Two-meter man Troy Barnhart scored two fourth-quarter goals, the second giving the United States a 5-3 lead with 2 minutes 10 seconds remaining in the match. Australia cut the lead to one with six seconds remaining.

The U.S. team also led by two goals, 3-1, at the half, but Australia scored two consecutive goals in the third quarter to tie it. Both goals came in man-advantage situations.

Australia was playing without two of its better players, former Pepperdine standout Geoffe Clark, who was recently married, and Paul Oberman, who is injured. The U.S. team was without its leading scorer, Chris Humbert, who hasn’t returned from Italy, where he plays professionally.

Australia and the United States trained together last week at a higher altitude (Colorado Springs, Colo.), so the style of play was familiar. The match was physical but cleanly played, “a good arm wrestle, I thought,” said Australian assistant Don Cameron.

Dan Hackett, in goal for the United States in the first half, made three steals and was credited with three saves, including one on a penalty shot by Mark Oberman. Hackett, a former UCLA All-American who played at Irvine High, said his teammates keyed his performance.

“It’s been really fun the last couple of games,” Hackett said. “Our team has jumped out and scored first in every game and that eases the pressure on me. It seems to fuel our defense when our offense clicks early.”

The offense wasn’t making too much noise, Chi Kredell, Todd Hosmer and Rick McNair each scored first-half goals, but with Hackett and Chris Duplanty, in the second half, leading the defense, the United States didn’t need much.

Duplanty, a former UC Irvine All-American and two-time Olympian, made five saves, including one at point-blank range. Duplanty was helped by teammates who often blocked shots before they reached him.

“The guys have been playing outstanding in front of both Danny and myself,” Duplanty said. “There are times when we don’t even have to block the ball.”

Play starts at 10:30 a.m. today, with a match between Mexico and Japan. The U.S. B team, which beat Mexico, 9-5, Saturday, plays Canada at 11:45. Cuba and Australia play for third place at 1 p.m.