Publication Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2005
WATER POLO
Busy summer in pool for local players
Busy summer in pool for local players
(July 20, 2005) by Rick Eymer
While the United States men's and women's national water polo teams are competing in the FINA World Championships this week in Montreal, the men's Futures team was off gaining experience at the Low Tatras Cup in Kosice, Slovakia, some 4,200 miles to the east.
Stanford junior Katie Hansen earned first team All-American honors and helped Santa Barbara reach the championship match of the Women's 20-under National Championships at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo.
The Stanford club team finished seventh, with Kelsey Haley and Molly Hayes earning honorable mention All-American honors. The NorCal club finished 12th as Rebecca Dreyfuss was also named honorable mention.
Amanda Tipton scored twice in Stanford's 6-2 victory over CHAWP in the seventh-place contest. Hayes, Haley, Lizzie Rouleau and Di Eaton also scored.
Davis beat NorCal, 6-5, in the 11th-place game. Zizi Clark and Dreyfuss each scored twice while Heidi Kucera also scored.
While the Slovakia trip resulted in an 0-3 record for the American Futures, the tournament did give Menlo School products Ben Hohl and Jimmie Sandman experience at the international level, and probably a lesson in geography.
Kosice is in the southeastern part of the country, just north of Hungary and just west of the Ukraine. Slovakia's capital city, Bartislava is on the other side of the country, near the Austria border.
The Americans lost to host Slovakia, 9-5, in the opening round of the age-group tournament. Hohl scored two goals in the contest, while Sandman shared time in the goal with Mark Stemler.
Will Hindle-Katel, who joins Sandman at Stanford in the fall, added a goal.
"The team played well in the first half and then we had some major communication breakdowns on defense," coach Dave Carlson said.
The second-half breakdowns became the theme as the U.S. lost, 17-5, to Australia despite being within 4-2 of the Aussies at halftime.
The U.S. rebounded from a rough start to score twice in five exclusions in the second quarter while holding Australia scoreless in five exclusions.
The Aussies outscored the Americans, 8-2, in the third quarter to take control of the match.
Japan kept the United States winless with a 4-2 decision on Saturday.
The news was much better from Montreal, where the U.S. men's national team beat Japan, 7-4, in an opening round match on Monday.
The U.S. women's national team were tied by Spain, 6-6, on Sunday.
Stanford grad Tony Azevedo, the men's new team captain (a title formerly held by Stanford grad Wolf Wigo until he retired after last season), scored twice in the victory.
Azevedo's first goal gave the Americans a 2-0 lead in the first quarter. He followed that with an early fourth-quarter goal which pushed Team USA's lead to 5-3.
"There are things we still need to work on," Azevedo said. "It is the first World Championships for many of our players."
It's also the first World Championships with coach Guy Baker, who moved over from the women's national team earlier this season.
The U.S. held a 4-2 lead at halftime and then went scoreless in the third quarter before Azevedo got things back on track.
"The first quarter was pretty good but if we keep having lapses like we did we will be in trouble," Baker said.
The Americans, who played without starter Michael March, meet Cuba on Wednesday.
Hungary is the defending men's champion, with Italy finishing second and Serbia and Montenegro third.
The American women were scheduled to meet top-seeded Hungary on Tuesday.
Team USA, led by two key goals from Stanford grad and team captain Brenda Villa, took a 5-3 lead into the final quarter against Spain but were unable to hold off the charging Spanish women.
Team Spain took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 3-2 lead at halftime.
With three minutes left in the third quarter, Villa and Kelly Rulon engaged in a give-and-go on a counter attack, with Villa scoring from the two-meter line to knot things up.
The United States is the defending World Champions, capturing the title in 2003 in Barcelona with a victory over Italy in the championship. Russia won the bronze medal.
For the city, MONTREAL 2005 - which also includes various other pool events - is the largest gathering of amateur athletes since the 1976 Olympic Games, with 160 countries competing. There are also 2,500 volunteers and a media contingent of more than 1,000 journalists.
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