Tracy Press

 
US men win thanks to goalie with Tracy ties

Merrill Moses of Team USA, whose parents live in Tracy, corrals a loose ball in front of the goal in a Tuesday match against Italy. Mark Humphrey/AP

BEIJING — U.S. men’s water polo coach Terry Schroeder wanted to be in the pool.

There, he might have been able to help.

Instead, the three-time Olympian and longtime team captain was stuck watching the final seconds unfold from the bench.

It wasn’t easy.

Jeffrey Powers had three goals, team captain Tony Azevedo added two and the Americans barely escaped with a 12-11 victory against Italy in preliminary play Tuesday.

“It was a helpless feeling,” Schroeder said.

Although the ninth-ranked Americans never trailed, they had plenty of uneasy moments in the closing minutes.

The fifth-ranked Italians sliced into a 12-9 deficit with goals from Leonardo Sottani and Maurizio Felugo.

Sottani beat goalie Merrill Moses with an outside shot with two minutes, 46 seconds to play.

About a minute later, Felugo unleashed a sidearm shot around a defender that skipped under Moses’ outstretched arm and made it a one-goal game.

Moses, 30, a member of the USA National Water Polo team since 1997, is the son of Max and Marlene Moses of Tracy.

He is a graduate of Rancho Palos Verdes High School and Pepperdine University, and his parents moved to Tracy in May. All month they and other families of the water polo team are in Beijing to watch their team pursue the gold medal.

Moses told The Associated Press that he felt like he caused the tense times Tuesday. Although he carried his team early with some big stops, he struggled in the second half and allowed eight goals.

“One thing we’ve kept as our team motto is if one person’s not doing it, the other person’s got to do it,” he said. “My guys stepped up in the second half.”

The win Tuesday at Yingdong Natatorium moved the U.S. squad to 2-0 in the Group B pool and put them in solid position to advance to the quarterfinals.

The U.S. defeated host China, 8-4, in the first round Sunday. Azevedo scored five goals, and Moses stopped 11 of 15 shots.

Azevedo scored three goals in the first half, added two more after the break and finished the opening round with more goals than anyone else in the 12-team field.

“Tony is just a spectacular player,” Moses said. “Be prepared for him to score a lot of goals against every team.”

Although the Americans beat a team many believe won’t win a game in the preliminary round, it was a step in the right direction.

“The bottom line is you’re playing China in China,” Moses said. “In any sport, that’s going to be hard. Hopefully, this is the start of a lot more to come.”

• The Tracy Press contributed to this report. 

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments