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Olympic Water Polo Recaps - 23 July (Day 4)

Bracket B, Game 5

Croatia vs. Ukraine

Croatia Rolls Over Ukraine:

Croatia had 10 different players score a total of 16 goals en route to a 16-8 water polo rout of the Ukraine in the fourth of five preliminary games of pool play. It was the highest offensive output by any team thus far in the competition, in addition to being the largest margin of victory.

Ognjen KRZIC led Croatia with three goals and Zdeslav VRDOLJAK, Renato VRBICIC, Tino VEGAR and team captain Perica BUKIC all pitched in with two goals. Leading the Ukraine was Vadym SKURATOR who had three goals and was the only multiple goal scorer on the team.

Croatia jumped out to a 3-0 first quarter lead and added to the cushion in the second quarter with three more goals. Croatian goalkeeper Sinisa SKOLAEKVIC did not allow his first goal until 4:18 remained in the second quarter andn Dima ANDREYER scored.

The second half was more of the same as Croatia outscored the Ukraine, 4-1. The teams played an even fourth quarter, each scoring six goals.

Croatia, 3-1, will play the United States at 22:00 tomorrow, 24 July, in the final game of the preliminary round. That game will decide the second seed of the bracket entering the quarterfinals. The Ukraine's (0-3-1) next opponent is Greece, currently 1-3. The winner of that game will earn the final quarterfinal berth in the bracket. Final Score: Croatia 16, Ukraine 8.

"We expected the Ukraine would give us a tougher game because the past two days, they had played well against the United States (lost 9-7) and Italy (lost 10-7). This result is difficult to talk about because the game wasn't competitive," said Croatia's Ccach Bruno SILIC.


Bracket B, Game 6

Romania vs. United States

United States Rolls Past Romania:

The United States rolled past Romania, 10-5, in the last game of the fourth day's competition at the water polo venue at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. It matched the highest offensive output for the United States.

The United States took a 2-0 lead after one quarter and continued on that course in the second, outscoring Romania, 4-1. Chris HUMBERT (USA) the team's leading scorer, scored his ninth goal of the tournament to fire the United States a 5-1 lead with 1:27 in the half.

Mike EVANS led the way for the United States as he fired in three goals and Kyle KOPP, who scored a pair of goals in last night's victory over the Ukraine, scored two goals.

Romania team captain Vlad HAGIU scored his team's last two goals of the game, the final score coming with just 49 seconds.

The United States will play Croatia (3-1) at 22:00 on 24 July for second place in the B bracket. Romania (0-2-1) will precede the United States, playing defending gold medalist and undefeated Italy (4-0) at 18:20. Final Score: United States 10, Romania 5.


Water Polo Preliminaries, Group B

Italy vs. Greece

Italy Still Undefeated:

Italy, heavy favorite for the 1996 Olympic Games gold medal, won its fourth consecutive water polo game of the preliminary round, defeating Greece 10-8, during the fourth day of competition of the Olympic Games.

It was a balanced game for both teams as Italy had four players with two goals and Greece had three players also with two goals.

The score was tied at three at the intermission but Greece's Konstantinos LOUDIS gave his team a 4-3 lead with 5:14 in the third. Italy was quick to come back as Alessandro BOVA scored just 13 seconds later. Greece's Georgios MAVROTAS knotted up the game at five as he connected on a penalty shot, but Italy rattled off three straight goals to take the lead it would never relinquish.

Italy's two goal scorers included Fabio BENCIVENGA, BOVA, Alessandro CALCATERRA and Leonardo SOTTANI. For Greece Filippos KAIAFAS, LOUDIS, and MAVROTAS all had two goals as well.

Italy will play for first place in the Group B tomorrow, 24 July at 18:20, taking on Romania, which was winless entering Tuesday night's 22:00 game against the United States. Greece (1-3) and Croatia (2-1 entering 18:20 game versus the Ukraine) at 15:00. Final Score: Italy 10, Greece 8.


Water Polo Preliminaries, Group B

Spain vs. Hungary

Hungary Remains Undefeated:

Hungary's Frank TOTH fired in three goals to lead Hungary to its fourth straight win, an 8-7 triumph over Spain, in group play at the Olympic Games.

Goals were traded throughout the game, which had six ties and two lead changes. Hungary put the first score on the board when Zsolt NEMETH scored just a minute into the contest. Spain's first lead came with 3:08 in the second half as Jorge PAYA tallied his first goal of the tournament.

Zsolt VARGA took over for Hungary in the last two minutes as he scored the final two goals of the quarter to give his team a 6-5 advantage going into the intermission.

TOTH'S second goal of the game came with 3:39 left in the fourth quarter to lift Hungary to a one point lead 97-6). He tallied one more time before game's end to secure the victory.

Spain, which narrowed the gap to one when Pedro GARCIA tallied with just 38 seconds remaining, had two chances in the final three seconds to score but both shots were blocked by Hungary goalkeeper Zoltan KOSZ.

Hungary will try to go undefeated in its fifth and final game of the preliminaries tomorrow, 24 July against Yugoslavia, currently 3-0-1 and in second place in the group, at 11:00. Spain, 2-2, will play Russia, 2-1-1, to decide the third and fourth positions in the group at 12:40. Final Score: Hungary 8, Spain 7


Water Polo Preliminaries Group A

Yugoslavia vs. Germany

Yugoslavia defeats Germany for third preliminary win

Mirko VICEVIC scored a game-high three goals to lead Yugoslavia to a 9-8 water polo victory over winless Germany in the opening game of the fourth day at the Centennial Olympic Games.

The teams traded goals throughout the first two and half quarters. In that span, there were five ties and two lead changes. Yugoslavia jumped on the board first on a goal by Igor MILANOVIC less than two minutes into the game and took a 2-1 lead after the opening quarter on a goal by Veljko USKOKOVIC.

Jorg DRESEL gave the German team its first lead in the game (3-2) at 3:19 after teammate Dirk KLINGENBERGER scored a minute earlier. VICEVIC gave Yugoslavia the lead (5-4) when he connected on a penalty shot with four minutes to play in the third.

Victor JELENIC gave Yugoslavia the lead for good (6-5) with 3:36 in the third, capitalizing when German goalkeeper Ingo BORGMANN moved out from in front of the goal.

Leading 7-6 in the closing seconds of the third, VICEVIC scored his second of two goals and opened the final stanza with his third score, giving Yugoslavia its largest lead of the game at 9-6.

Germany had scores from Raul DE LA PENA and a penalty shot from Rene REIMANN to close the gap to one point with 46 seconds left.

REIMANN and Jorg DRESEL led Germany with two goals each.

Yugoslavia improved to 3-0-1 and will play Hungary, currently the only undefeated team in the bracket with three wins at 11:00 on 24 July. Germany and the Netherlands, both 0-4, will play at 16:40. Final Score: Yugoslavia 9, Germany 8


Water Polo Preliminaries Group A

Netherlands vs. Russia

Russia tops winless Netherlands

Three Russian's scored two goals as Russia defeated the winless Netherlands, 10-5, in the second game of the fourth day of preliminary water polo competition at the 1996 Olympic Games.

Serguei ESTIGNEEV, Iouri SMOLOVOI and Dmitrii GORCHKOV were the multiple goal scorers for Russia.

The two teams ended the first quarter tied at two but Russia broke open the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Netherlands, 3-0.

The Netherlands' Harry VAN DER MEER, the leading scorer in the tournament with 11 goals, cut the lead to two (5-3) but that would be as close as his team would get. ESTIGNEEV and SMOLOVOI scored the next two goals of the game to put Russia up 7-3 after three quarters.

GORCHKOV gave Russia its largest lead of the game, scoring the team's 10th goal with 3:25 remaining in the game.

Russia (2-1-1) will play Spain, currently 2-1 entering Tuesday's 16:40 game with Hungary), at 12:40 on 24 July. The Netherlands and Germany, both winless, will face off at 16:40 on 24 July. Final Score: Russia 10, Netherlands 5


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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