WP Juniors 2011 (M), Day 4: Unbeaten Croatia advances to semi finals

FRA vs GRE - credit: Ilia Karatsalos

Italy now stands at the top of the Group B rankings powered by their victory over Hungary in the first game at the outdoor pool this afternoon. Italy faces Iran tomorrow and with a victory can also claim four wins in the first round. More importantly, a victory over Iran will advance the Italian team to the semi finals. Hungary which lost to Italy today hopes to leave the prelim rounds in the second position in Group B but they will need to defeat Kazakhstan in tomorrow's match.
 
Perhaps the most anticipated match on tomorrow's schedule will be Croatia versus Spain. Both teams hold three victories in three games and are tied at six points and at the top of the Group D standings. The winning team will earn the bye in the next round and will sail directly into the semi finals. The losing team in tomorrow's match will own the second spot in Group D standings.

MNE vs BRA - credit: Ilias Karatsalos

 Game reports

GAME 25: 09:30, Group D, MEXICO 5 - SPAIN 20
 
Quarters: (3-4, 1-6, 1-5, 0-5)

Spain's hopes to finish at the top of the Group D standings were advanced today with a 20-5 trouncing of Mexico. Nine Spanish athletes scored in a game that was tight only in the first quarter. Mexico was down 1-3 with 2:30 left in the first quarter but scored the final two goals of the period to close the quarter with a one goal deficit, 3-4. Pablo CARBALLO would score his second goal for Mexico in the second quarter, the only goal in that period for his country. Spain would find the net six times closing the first half at 4-10.  Spain's top scorers were Victor GUTIERREZ SANTIAGO and Gerard REIXACH BOIX, each with 4 goals. Spain will face Serbia on the fifth and final day of the preliminary rounds where it is likely that the top team in Group D will be the winner of that match.
 
MEXICO: 5 GOALS - BECERRIL, Francisco; ORTIZ, Cedar; *ALAVOS, Antonio; CERRANO, Jesus; BISCAINO, Juan; JUAREZ, Eric; IBARRA, Anvar; CALVA, Himbler; CARBALLO, Pablo; MORALES, Ivan; GILBERT, Armando; ORTIZ, Ivan;  ALILA, Isac. *Team Captain
COACH: BIART, Pedro
 
SPAIN: 20 GOALS - TEBAR CRIADO, Diego; BUSTOS SANCHEZ, Jose Javier - 1; *CARRILIO GEMAR, Oscar - 2; MONPEAT PORTANA, Joshua; CARABI GASOL, Adria - 3; REIXACH BOIX, Gerard - 4; SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Carlos - 1; LARUMBE GONFAUS, Marc; GUTIERREZ SANTIAGO, Victor - 4; FERNANDEZ CERDA, Victor - 1; DE LERA CALERO, Ruben - 2; CABANAS PEGADO, Victor - 2; ESTELA XUCLA, Marti. *Team Captain
COACH: COLET, Joaquin
 
PENALTY SHOT GOALS:
MEX: BISCAINO, Juan - 1
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS: 
MEX: 2 of 4 (50%)
ESP: 4 of 7 (57%)
 
REFEREES: Toshio FUKIMOTO (JPN), Mansour SANEI (IRI)
 
 
GAME 26: 11:00, Group D, SERBIA 10 - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 6
 
Quarters: (1-2, 3-1, 1-0, 5-3)
 
Marko MATOVIC would put Serbia on the scoreboard first with his only goal of the game. Josh SAMUELS, the USA skipper scored the next two to put the USA up 1-2 at the end of the first quarter. Serbian team captain Nemanda UBOVIC found the net five times in the match against the USA. UBOVIC's first goal was the go ahead goal that would break a 3-3 tie late in the second quarter. USA went scoreless in the third quarter while only UBOVIC would find the net for the Serbian team in that period. Not comfortable with their 5-3 lead at the start of the final quarter UBOVIC would nail three additional goals while teammates Dujan MANDIC and Aleska SAPONDIC would each sail one ball past USA's goalkeeper Jon SILBEY for a five goal final quarter for Serbia. Three USA players would score in the fourth quarter in an attempt to close the gap. USA's Nick RASCON would score the final goal of the game with 23 seconds left on the clock to narrow the margin of defeat. Serbia collects two points for their victory and will next face Spain, the other undefeated team in Group D, under the lights at the outdoor pool tomorrow evening. The winner of the Serbia - Spain contest will earn a bye in the first round of the qualification series.
 
SERBIA: 10 GOALS - MATKOVIC, Nemanda; MATOVIC, Marko - 1; *UBOVIC, Nemanda - 5; MILICIC, Milos; DEDOVIC, Nikola - 1; RASOVIC, Strahihja; SAPONDIC, Aleska - 1; YUKSANOVIC, Srdan; ESKERT, Nikola; MILICEVIC Mihajlo;  MANDIC, Dujan - 2; RISTICEVIC, Dimitride; MITROVIC, Vodislan. *Team Captain
COACH: STAHOJEVIC, Dejan
 
USA: 6 GOALS - SIBLEY, Jon; BONANNI, Bret - 1; RASCON, Nicholas - 1; SMITH, Collin; RUDOLPH, Paul; WALTERS, Jon; WENDT Christopher; HAMBY, Spencer; *SAMUELS, Josh - 3; WHERRY, Alex - 1; HOVERSTEN, Nick; BOWEN, Alex;  PARSONS Justin. *Team Captain
COACH: LYNN, Robert
 
PENALTY SHOT GOALS:
SRB: MANDIC, Dujan - 1
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS: 
SRB: 2 of 7 (29%)
USA: 4 of 8 (50%)
 
REFEREES: Mario BIANCHI (ITA), Denis DANELON (BRA)
 

GAME 27: 20:00 Group A, FRANCE 5 - GREECE 12
 
Quarters: (0-4, 3-3, 1-2, 1-3)
 
The expression "having your back against the wall" was certainly what the French athletes must have been feeling when the heard the applause from a partisan home crowd that filled the stands to see the Greek juniors in action. Things couldn't go worse for the French as they let Greece score four goals in the first quarter while their guns were silent. The French players woke up in the second quarter to score three goals, but the Greek players countered with the same number, ending the first half at 3-7 in favor of France. Greece found the net twice in the third period, France only once, so the defecit grew. The home team would score three more times in the final quarter while the French again found the net only once. Greece collected two points for tonight's victory and can tie Australia for the Group A standings if they defeat Puerto Rico tomorrow evening. Australia and Greece tied in their game on the first day.
 
FRANCE: 6 GOALS - STAJIC, Konstantin; VERON, Lucas; KHASZ, Enzo - 1; MENNUCCI, Alexandre - 1; MONNERET, Sebastian - 1; BRESSOLIER, Thomas - 1; IZOINSKY, Michal; ARDISSON, Emrick; LADOUCE, Remy-Pierre; MISSY, Nicolas; *JELEFF, Loris; ESTEBE, Nicolas; CHEVALIER, Alexandre. *Team Captain
COACH: NARDON, Samuel
 
GREECE: GALANOPOULOS, Stefanos; SOLANAKIS, Emmanouil; LAPPAS, Dimitrios; GOUVIS, Konstantinos; DERVISIS, Georgios; PAPADOGIANNIS, Georgios; VITELLAS, Konstantinos; *VLACHOPOULOS, Angelos; XENAKIS, Antoniios; KAPOTSIS, Marios; GENIDOUNIAS, Konstantinos; DERMITZAKIS, Dimosthenis; PONTIKEAS, Kyriakos. *Team Captain
COACH: DAMASKOS, Periklis
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS:
FRA: 2 of 8 (25%)
GRE: 8 OF 17 (67%)
 
REFEREES: Gyorgy KUN (HUN), Mark LEVIN (ISR)

GAME 28: 12:30, Group A, PUERTO RICO 4 - AUSTRALIA 13
 
Quarters: (0-2, 1-2, 3-6, 0-3)
 
Australian players know that the team from Greece is looking for any opportunity to snatch the number one ranking in Group A away from their team. The Aussie squad went full bore in their game against Puerto Rico, despite the fact that the first half was uneventful for both teams. Four different Australians would connect with the net during the first two periods while only Francisco VARGAS-AYMAT would drill one home for Mexico. Entering the bottom half of the game an energized Australia remembered what was at stake and their intensity resulted in six goals in the third period, two from Paul SINDONE. The team from Puerto Rico stepped up their play and landed three goals in the third period, What they needed was a rally with five goals in the final period of play reminiscent of their game against Canada early in the rounds. Unfortunately those players from Puerto Rico with their previously hot fingers couldn't muster a single goal in the fourth quarter.  Australian landed three more missiles in the final period of play; SINDONE and Adam POLIVKA notched their third goals of the game. The Australian team's fate rests in the hands of others as they have completed their four game first round and will be idle tomorrow. Australia will have to watch and wait for Greece to battle France this evening and Puerto Rico on the final day of the prelims.
 
PUERTO RICO: 4 GOALS - RICHIEZ, Bryan; VARGAS-AYMAT, Francisco - 2; *BAYO. Alan - 1; MOJICA, Luis - 1; CASTILLO, Rafael; RODRIGUEZ, Gabriel; ZAYAS, Fernando; CURET, Elerick; SANTA, Jesus; POMALES, Gerardo; ROBLEDO, Kalai; PEREZ, Joab. *Team Captain
COACH: MUNIZ, Angel
 
AUSTRALIA: 13 GOALS - CLARK James; DAVIE, Jeremy - 1; POLIVKA, Adam - 3; REDBOND, Nick - 1; FORD, George; FANNON, James - 2; SINDONE, Paul - 3; YOUNGER, Aaron - 1; QUINN, Sam - 1; HOWDEN, James; GILES, Matthew; *EDWARDS, Blake - 1; SLADE, Edward. *Team Captain
COACH: RICHARDSON, Adam
   
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS: 
PUR: 2 of 4 (50%)
AUS: 2 of 3 (67%)
 
REFEREES: Andar ANBAR (KUW), Cem FILIKSAC (TUR)

GAME 29: 16:00, Group B, ITALY 13 - HUNGARY 8
 
Quarters: (2-3,2-1,6-1,3-3)
 
Italy struck first with a goal signed by Luca DAMONTE at 7:04 in the first quarter but less than 30 seconds later David JANSIK would even the score. Hungarian team captain Bence BATORI would fire the go-ahead goal at 3:38 only to be countered by Andrea FONDELLI at 1:39. Bence FULLOP of Hungary would score his first of two goals at :51 to put the Hungarian squad back in the lead. Miklos CSAPO would score his only goal of the game at 7:16 in the second quarter to widen to margin to two goals. That's where the wheels fell off the Hungarian bus. Hungary failed to score another goal in the second period and couldn't protect their goalie who let two balls slip past him. Both teams retired for a five minute break at halftime with the game tied at 4's. Italy came back from the halftime break ready to inflict some pain. Italy's Francesco DI FULVO scored his only three goals in the third period and by the end of the quarter the Italian players had nailed six goals compared to only one from the Hungarian team. Daniel ANGYAL would strike twice in the final period for Hungary, but DAMONTE and two other Italian players would close out the contest with a final tally of 18-8. Italy is king of the Group B castle with victories over Hungary, Kazakhstan and Kuwait and will advance as the top seeded team to the semi-final round on 2 September.
 
ITALY: 8 GOALS - MUGELLI, Luca; BARABINO, Aimone - 1; DAMONTE, Luca - 3; BIANCO, Giovanni; GIANNI, Giacomo;  GITTO, Matteo - 1; *MIRARCHI, Cristiano - 2; MARZIALI, Luca - 1; ROTONDO, Raffaele - 1; FONDELLI, Andrea - 1; PRESCIUTTI, Nicholas; DI FULVIO, Francesco - 3; VESPA, Lorenzo. *Team Captain
COACH: AMEDEO, Pomilio
 
HUNGARY: 13 GOALS - LEVAI, Marton; KORENYI, Balazs; ANGYAL Daniel - 2; VAMOS, Marton Gyorgy; CSAPO Miklos - 1; *BATORI, Bence - 1; JANSIK, David - 2; SZENTESI, Adam; KERESZTES, Istvan; FULOP, Bence - 2; KOVACS, Peter; FAZEKAS, Tibor Zsolt; MEIXNER, Marcell. *Team Captain
COACH: SZEKELY, Bulcsu
 
PENALTY SHOT GOALS:
ITA: *MIRARCHI. Cristiano - 1
HUN: *BATORI, Bence - 1
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS:
ITA: 3 of 13 (23%)
HUN: 3 of 7 (43%)
 
REFEREES: Paulo RAMOS (POR), Stephane ROY (CAN)

GAME 30: 17:20 Group B, KAZAKHSTAN 16 - KUWAIT 3
 
Quarters: (2-0, 5-1, 5-1, 4-1)
 
Kazakhstan took and early two goal lead in the first quarter absent any offense from the Kuwait team.  Kazakhstan players would score five goals in each of the second and third quarters while the Kuwaiti athletes could manage only one goal in the same periods. Kuwaiti team captain Yousef BOSAKHAR would score the only three goals of the game, one in each quarter except the first one. Alexandr FENOCHKO was the high scorer for Kazakhstan. Kuwait is winless in the tournament and idle tomorrow having completed four games in the first round. Kazakhstan will play Hungary tomorrow with second place in Group B standings on the line.
 
KAZAKHSTAN: MAKHMETOV Madikhan; GODOVANYUK Alexandr; ASSYLKHAN Alibek; NAURYZBAYEV, Nurzhan; *ZHAMANKULOV, Diyas; FENOCHKO, Alexandr; SHAKENOV, Anvar; YERSAINOV, Makhambet; BAKLITSKIY, Vassiliy; TURLYKHANOV, Bolat;  KURGANSKIY Pavel; GARAYEV, Rustem; KUPRIN, Dmitriy. *Team Captain
COACH: MASLYUK, Sergey
 
KUWAIT: BOSAKHAR, Huseen; *BOSAKHAR, Yousef; ALFOUDARI, Mahmoud; ALASKARI Mohammad; ALSHATI, Hasan;  ALMAZIAD, Homoud; ALRUMAIDHIN, Mohammad; BOSAKHAR, Abdulhameed; ALDOUSARI, Abdulwahab; ALMKEEMI, Athbi; BOLOUSHI, Mohammad; BOSAKHAR Younis; ALFERAIJ, Mubarak. *Team Captain
COACH: HORVATH, Viktor
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS:
KAZ: 2 OF 9 (22%)
KUW: 2 OF 6 (33%)
 
REFEREES: Santiago RODRIGUEZ (ESP), Nenad GOLIJANIN (SRB)

GAME 31: 18:40 Group C, MONTENEGRO 15 - BRAZIL 6
 
Quarters: (3-1, 3-3, 4-2, 5-0)
 
Although Mattheus CRIVELLA of Brazil would draw first blood with an early goal in the first period, Montenegro's Nikola MARKOVIC would even the score and his teammates would add two more goals to end the first quarter with a 3-1 advantage for their team. The Montenegro team never looked back. Both teams scored three goals each in the second quarter. Gavril SUBOTIC (MNE) would nail two more goals in the third quarter and two other teammates would add one apiece while Brazil could muster only two goals in the third quarter.  Jovan SARIC the Montenegro team captain hit his target three times in the final period to tally four goals for the game. Teammate Radovan LATINOVIC also had four goals in the game. The final result was 15-6 in favor of Montenegro. Montenegro lost only to Croatia, the Group C champion, having defeated Uzbekistan and Brazil in the prelim rounds. A win over Brazil tomorrow will clarify their second position standing in Group C.
 
MONTENEGRO: 15 GOALS - KANDIC, Slaven; SUBOTIC, Gavril - 3; MARKOVIC, Nikola - 1; POROBIC, Igor; NIKCEVIS, Miljan; BANICEVIC, Bojan; FANFANI, Bozo - 2 *SARIC, Jovan - 4; LATINOVIC, Radovan - 4; MURISIC, Nikola; POPOVIC, Mikjan; VICO, Nemanjal - 1; LUCIC, Branko. *Team Captain
COACH: VICO, Petar
 
BRAZIL: 6 GOALS - *SOUZA, Anderson; JUNIOR, Marcos; MAGALHAES, Douglas; COUTINHO, Gustavo; ALMEIDA Bernardo - 1; GUIMARAES, Ricardo; CRIVELLA, Matheus; GUIMARAES, Gustavo - 2; SANTOS, Yuri; LIMA, Caio - 2; GOMES, Bernardo - 1; CRUZ, Anderson; BRAGA, Lucas. *Team Captain
COACH: SABLIC, Goran
 
PENALTY SHOT GOALS:
MNE: *SARIC, Jovan - 1
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS:
MNE: 3 of 9 (30%)
BRA: 4 of 10 (40%)
 
REFEREES: Michail KOURETAS (GRE), Jean-Michel DELON (FRA)

GAME 32: 14:00, Group C, UZBEKISTAN 6 - CROATIA 23
 
Quarters: (3-5, 1-6, 1-5, 1-7)
 
The players from Croatia soundly defeated their rivals from Uzbekistan in a match that was close only in the first quarter. Marko IVANKOVIC of Croatia scored first but Rinat GAYSIN would tie it at 1's 30 seconds later. The Uzbekistan players were able to kept their margin behind at one or two goals for only the first quarter. Five Croatian players scored a total six goals in the second quarter while the physically smaller players from Asia managed only a single goal. The second half was much like a hunting party, where only one side is armed. Croatia scored five times in the third period and seven times in the final quarter, compared to one goal in each of the two periods from the players of Uzbekistan. Nine Croatian players would find the inside of the net and four different athletes would amass four goals in the game. Croatia finished the preliminary rounds as the only team with four consecutive victories and with eight points they are assured of advancing to the semi finals.  
 
UZBEKISTAN: 6 GOALS - PASHKANOV, Stanislav; MASSEL, Aleksandr; QOSIMOV, Mirazis; *VALISHEV, Ramil - 2; ZAYSEV, Aleksey; SUKHAREV, Oleg - 1; RUSTAMOV, Kirill - 2; GAYSIN Rinat - 1; SAYLIEV, Abbas; CHUMACHENKO, Egor; SKRIPACHEV, Vitaliy; SELIPHONTOV, Semen; KRAHOTIN, Maksim. *Team Captain
COACH: SOKOLOV, Aleksandr
 
CROATIA: 23 GOALS - BIJAC, Marko; BENIC, Hrvoje - 1; MARINIC-KRAGIC, Jerko - 4; IVANKOVIC, Marko - 4;  GERATOVIC, Franko - 4; SANTINI, Toni; VLAHOVIC, Andrija - 4; *MILAKOVIC Kristijan - 2; VISKOVIC, Ante; PAVICIC, Marko - 2; MACAN, Marko - 1; LUSIC, Duje - 1; SELEM, Petar Juraj. *Team Captain
COACH: DAMJANIC, Milorad
 
PENALTY SHOT GOALS:
UZB: *VALISHEV, Ramil - 1
UZB: RUSTAMOV, Kirill -
UZB: GAYSIN Rinat - 1
 
EXTRA PLAYER GOALS:
UZB: 1 of 6 (17%)
CRO: 9 of 11 (82%)
 
REFEREES: Reynel CASTILLO (PUR), Alex STANKOVITCH (USA)