Olympic Water Polo: U.S. Loses 6-11 to Hungary

The U.S. men's water polo lost Monday in London in a bracket match against the defending gold medalists, Hungary, 6 - 11. The team from the U.S. was undefeated three games into the tournament, but has lost their last two games to Hungary and Serbia both by a five goal margin.

Long Beach representatives Ryan Bailey and Adam Wright did not have a great showing, scoring only one goal between the three. Chay Lapin (Long Beach), back up goalie, did not play and Adam Wright left the game in the third quarter with three major fouls. 

The score after the first quarter was 0-1 in favor of Hungary, but the US couldn’t withstand the second quarter storm brought on by Hungary. The score at half was 2-6 Hungary. 

The real story of the game was the penalties given up by the US. Hungary had 13 power plays and three 5-meter penalties. Hungary scored only one goal that was not given to them by a US penalty.

The captain from , Azevedo, needs to be more of a presence if his team wants to contend for a medal. Azevedo was held to one goal off of a 5-meter penalty shot that he did not earn. Teams like Serbia and Hungary have begun to press the sharp-shooting Azevedo for the entire game, but Azevedo needs to drive out of the press to get himself involved in the offense. 

“They [Hungary] have two great left-handers and a lot of great weapons. We tried to take them away today, but they found other options,” said Bailey, a Millikan High School graduate, on the loss.

Earlier this summer at Newport Harbor High School and again at Foothill High School team USA beat Hungary in convincing fashion. This could’ve caused some over confidence in the minds of the USA players and certainly lead to Hungary wanting to make a statement. Hungary played their best game of the tournament today.  

Bailey and his will take on Croatia Tuesday in London in the quarter finals. Croatia has gone undefeated in their bracket. 

“Serbia and Hungary are two of the best teams in the world and they made us look bad. We just need to go home, regroup, and get ready for the quarter finals,” said Bailey. 

The team will need to cut down on the penalties and play better than they have the past few days if they want to beat Croatia and contend for a medal.