2012 FINA World League: USA Stumbles Against Italy, Loses 7-5

The United States lost their first game in the FINA World League as they fell 7-5 to Italy. This was a game that saw both sides dominant some part of this game. The first quarter saw Team USA lead 3-2 on a goal from John Mann from the two-meter area, and that would be the last goal from the United States for a while.

The Italians went on a roll in the second period where they outscored the United States 3-0 during that period. Two of the goals by Italy were on one-on-one opportunities with the other goal being on a power play opportunity. United States struggled to convert any power play chances in the second quarter including a penalty shot by Tony Azevedo was blocked.

In the third quarter the United States turned things around by shutting out Italy 2-0 to make it 5-5 heading into the fourth quarter. The scoring for Team USA Mann and Layne Beaubien who scored on a power play. The fourth quarter reverted back to their second quarter play and shutout the United States again with two goals to zero.

In the fourth quarter Italy scored on a delay penalty that had Merrill Moses ejected and then a lob by Alex Giorgetti put the defending world champions up for good. The United States missed a pair of power play goals in the final quarter, and that was the theme of the game for Team USA.

They struggled by going only 2-for-8 on power play chances and then as mentioned Azevedo missed a penalty shot. The loss makes Team USA the No. 2 team in Group B and they will now face Australia in the quarterfinal round on Friday at 4:10 a.m. ET.