Tie Fits OK for Team USA

This was a moment to look at the glass as being half full for the United States water polo team.

A 7-7 tie with Australia on the first day of pool play in the UPS International Cup Tuesday night was not what they desired. But they were in no position to complain.

Australia was smothering through three quarters, leading, 7-4, while U.S. players misfired. A three-goal rally erased that and produced a tie in front of 1,200 at the Los Alamitos Army Reserve Center.

“We had two really good quarters and two quarters where we had individual errors that cost us goals,” U.S. Coach John Vargas said.

The United States has won only one Olympic gold medal and that came in 1904, when every team in the competition was from the U.S.

There have been hopes and promise since and little to show for it.

So what was so bad about a tie with Australia, considered one of the top teams in the world? Maybe nothing.

The U.S. is still assembling its team. Gavin Arroyo and Kyle Kopp arrived Monday from Europe, where they play professionally. Chris Humbert arrived from Greece Tuesday morning and didn’t suit up.

So to salvage a tie wasn’t so bad.

“We still need a little more time,” Vargas said. “We’re still putting the pieces together.”

Which makes this tournament a good barometer.

“Everyone in this tournament is a top team,” Vargas said. “This will let us know if we’re on the right track.”

There wasn’t an immediate answer to that Tuesday. The offense through three quarters was more or less limited to Long Beach teenager Tony Azevedo, who scored three goals.

But the U.S. was brilliant in the fourth, shutting down Australia’s offense and finding some offensive energy.

Wolf Wigo, Chi Kredell and Robert Lynn each scored a goal, with Lynn’s tying the score with 3 minutes 25 seconds left. Both teams survived threats in the final two minutes, the most serious coming when a lob shot by Australia’s Craig Miller glanced off the post.

“We showed our speed big time in the last quarter,” Vargas said. “But if you’re not ready to play every quarter against this competition, you’re going to lose.”

Or tie.

In other games:

Yugoslavia 14, Italy 8--Aleksandar Sapic scored five goals, as Yugoslavia dominated the 1996 Olympic gold medal winners.

Sapic scored all of his goals in the first three quarters, helping Yugoslavia build a 12-4 lead. Sapic and goalie Aleksandar Sostar, the last link to the team’s 1988 gold medal team, did not play in the fourth quarter.

Croatia 7, United States B 3--Croatia, the silver medal winner at the 1996 Olympics, struggled against a United States team that was made up of younger players.

Croatia scored four fourth-quarter goals to break a 3-3 tie. The United States was held scoreless the final 10:45.

Goalie Chris Aguilera made 12 saves, turning away five of six shots during a two-minute span in the third quarter.

Omar Amr, Jeff Powers and Chris Segesman scored for the U.S.