U.S. Gets Hard-Fought Victory Over Italy, Advances to Final

Dan Hackett, goalie for the U.S. water polo team, smirked and summed things up in one sentence.

“Always a pleasure to play the Italians,” Hackett said.

The U.S. knew this was coming and made use of it in an 8-5 victory Saturday over Italy in the UPS International Cup.

The victory put the U.S. in today’s tournament final against Yugoslavia, but only after a lot of pushing, grabbing and shoving. So it was somewhat fitting that the game was held at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

Of course, according to U.S. players, there was nothing out of the ordinary about Italy’s play.

“I didn’t see anybody bleeding,” Wolf Wigo said.

Italy’s Roberto Calcaterra griped at referees throughout the game and at U.S. players as they left the pool afterward.

Italy started by playing physical defense and then got rough. Alberto Angelini was ejected early in the second period. Assistant coach Ferdinando Pesci followed him after complaining about a goal by Chris Humbert. The Italian bench was also assessed a yellow card.

U.S. players had seen this before and planned for it.

“That happens all the time when you play them,” said Wigo, who scored three goals. “We knew we just had to keep our cool and not do anything stupid. Let them get the fouls.”

The U.S. had a man advantage 13 times, which resulted in four goals.

The Italians had a different version.

“We were not satisfied with the referees from the beginning,” Italy Coach Ratko Rudic said. “One was Croatian and the other Australian. They have teams in this tournament. They had an interest in Italy losing.

“It was very bad in the beginning. They called things one way for the U.S. and another way for Italy. I don’t want to say the U.S. won because of the referees. They played better in the end.”

But through the first 10 minutes, the U.S. needed sharp play from Hackett, who was the back-up goalie for the 1996 Olympic team.

The U.S. missed its first 11 shots and didn’t score for 10:31. Yet, Italy managed only a 1-0 lead, that coming with a man advantage.

“When the game is 1-0 after one quarter you can feel it getting a little tense,” Hackett said. “That’s OK. I like the tension. It keeps me alert.”

Wigo scored two goals within a minute in the second quarter and the U.S. never trailed again.

In other games, Australia defeated the U.S. “B” team, 12-6, and Croatia defeated Yugoslavia, 6-4.

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Brenda Villa, a graduate of Bell Gardens High, scored three goals as the U.S. women’s Olympic water polo team tuned up for next week’s U.S. Holiday Cup with a 13-8 victory over the Netherlands at the Commerce Aquatorium.

The Netherlands, considered the gold-medal favorite in Sydney, took a 1-0 lead on Marjan Opden Velde’s goal at 5:21 of the first period, but that was its only lead, with the U.S. scoring four of the next five goals.

The Holiday Cup begins Tuesday at Los Alamitos, as the six nations competing in the first women’s Olympic water polo event in Sydney play a round-robin tournament.