Croatia, Defending Water Polo Olympic Champions, Beat USA 7-5 In Rio

Croatia, the defending Olympic water polo gold medalists, opened their Rio 2016 title defense with a 7-5 victory over team USA on Saturday.

Croatia, Defending Water Polo Olympic Champions, Beat USA 7-5 In Rio

In what proved to be a relatively-low-scoring match in preliminary Group B, one of two groups, the Croatians earned two early points on Day 1 of men’s water polo to take the lead in the group with the top four teams progressing to the knockout stages.

The match was also a tough defensive battle, with only nine combined live-ball shots between the two teams, including merely three by the Americans.

Team USA captain Tony Azevedo opened scoring halfway through the first quarter for a 1-0 lead. The teams went goal-for-goal from there until the end of the first half, which they ended tied 3-3.

The Americans switched goalies to begin the second half, replacing veteran Merrill Moses with newcomer McQuin Baron. Moses blocked seven of 10 shots in the first half.

Croatia’s offense was solid in the second half; they scored four unanswered goals through the fourth quarter. Baron made four saves on eight shots in the second half.

Team USA’s two goals in the second half came at the beginning of the third quarter and with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Azevedo fired a bounce shot three minutes into the third, and Alex Roelse notched his second goal of the contest with 1:45 remaining in the match. Four of Team USA’s five goals came with an extra man.

Alex Bowen and Bret Bonanni scored the other two goals for the U.S.

Maro Jokovic and Andelo Setka led Croatia with two goals each. Croatia’s goalkeeper Marko Bijac saved 13 of 18 shot attempts, including nine saves on nine shots from beyond five meters.

The U.S. will return to action Monday when they play Spain at 10:40 a.m. ET.