Serbia and Italy rising to the top in U18s

DAY 2 MATCHES

Match 10, Group E, NEW ZEALAND 12 COLOMBIA 7 (3-3, 4-1, 3-2, 2-1)

New Zealand notched its first victory on debut controlling the match in the middle and maintaining it until the end. Colombia started strongly with the first two goals — one on penalty —and New Zealand had a penalty attempt saved. It was not until 2:32 that the Kiwis made the sheet, Alistar Rogers scoring on extra. The equaliser came through Gene Baggott on a drive to goal and Colombia responded on the next attack from centre through Jean Lopez. Sam Keightley scooped the ball from the left-post position and the match was locked at three — three goals in 26 seconds. Keightley had New Zealand in the lead on the first attack off a short drive down the left and nearly two minutes later Kevin Perez equalised from deep left with a huge turn. Baggott scored consecutive goals and Keightley converted penalty for 7-4 two minutes from the buzzer. It proved to be the halftime score.

Liam Dodunski doubled the score from centre straight after the restart. Miguel Fandino converted extra and Baggott replied from the top for 9-5. Colombia had a penalty shot saved and around the final minute, Dodunski scored on extra and Fandino shot from the top for 10-6. Baggott went on counter twice to bring up six goals. Australia took a timeout and Colombia two with the second earning a goal to Samuel Olarte for 12-7.

Match Heroes
Baggott with six goals and Keightley with three goals and goalkeeper Zach Martin with 15 saves, were New Zealand’s best. Fandino scored twice for Colombia.  

Turning Point
From 4-4 in the second quarter to 8-4 in the third.

Stats Don’t Lie
New Zealand struggled on extra-man attack, netting just two from seven to Colombia’s two from two. It also struck problems with penalties, netting one from three and Colombia one from two. Colombia had the better of steals 12 to eight.

Bottom Line
New Zealand has more experience at junior level and Colombia showed it has potential if it gets more competition.

Match 11, Group F, SOUTH AFRICA 8 KAZAKHSTAN 10 (0-2, 3-3, 2-4, 3-1)

Kazakhstan came through with a two-goal margin. It kept South Africa at arm’s left for the first quarter, but had to wait until 2:33 before scoring its first through Yegor Beloussov, a four-goal hero on day against Australia. The second came soon after from centre by . It took nearly three minutes into the second for Nurassyi Satbergan to score from centre and make it 3-0. Beloussov on extra with a high-climbing arm from the near-post position and Kirill Panteleyev via penalty, had the score at 5-0. Ross Rovelli fired from outside to secure South Africa’s first goal, unleashing a mini waterfall as Matthew Lortan on extra and Ross Stuart, also on extra, lifting the score to 5-3 by halftime.

Nicholas Fall brought it to within one on penalty. Goals were traded before Beloussov scored from centre for 7-5. Panteleyev and Dauren Ali scored from in front for 9-5 at the final break. Fall scored twice in the fourth for 9-7 and Pantyleyev took a penalty for 10-7.  Karabo Mamaregane sent one in from two metres for 10-8, but a missed shot after a timeout and a saved shot gave South Africa no relief and Kazakhstan had the match in hand.

Match Heroes
Kazakh captain Beloussov and Pantyleyev both scored three while goalkeeper Akzhan Aday made nine saves, Fall with three and Rovelli with a pair, were South Africa’s best shooters.  

Turning Point
The 5-0 start that kept South Africa scoreless until nearly halftime.

Stats Don’t Lie
South Africa went four from six on extra and defended two from three. Both teams made their penalty attempts with South Africa one and Kazakhstan two.

Bottom Line
Kazakhstan has big shooters and excellent defence. Now that South Africa has a match under its belt, it will have more confidence with its shooting.

Match 12, Group C, CANADA 13 TURKIYE 20 (2-5, 4-5, 4-5, 3-5)

Turkiye was relentless and Canada was equal to the task as the goals were flying in from all over the pool. Scoring star Efe Naipoglu, who had eight goals after the clash with China on day one, opened with the first two goals. He scored the fifth goal and missed a fourth strike with the last shot of the first quarter when his team was 5-2 ahead. Orhan Alpman scored on extra to start the second period and Naipoglu fired one in from centre. Ilya Belyaev made it 7-3 for Canada. Two more Turkish goals brought it to 9-3 and Canada gained No. 4 from captain Pavle Jelic on extra. Jason Joseph snared a pair through penalty and from two metres for 9-6. Naipoglu made it 10-6 before the turn.

Jelic and Kai Brierley straddled a Naipoglu goal for 11-8 in the third quarter. Turkiye scored the next three with Naipoglu in the mix and it was 14-8 ahead. Goals were traded and Canada went to the final quarter at 15-10 behind as those two goals came from Nandor Voros. Alpman scored the 15-9 goal and started the fourth on extra. He nabbed the 17^th goal at 4:37 form the top. Goals were traded again before Austin Hexter made it 18-12 for Canada. Naipoglu gained his eighth before another goal trade finished the scoring at 20-13.

Match Heroes
Naipoglu with eight goals gives him 14 in total. Alpman fired in six and Mithat Ayaksic four.  Jelic and Joseph netted three apiece for Canada.

Turning Point
The start and Naipoglu.

Stats Don’t Lie
Canada went five from five on penalty and blocked four from seven. It also scored the only penalty goal. Turkiye made nine steals to seven and shot 36 times to 28.

Bottom Line
With Naipoglu a power shooter, Turkiye will do well in the competition.

Match 09, Group D, BRAZIL 22 URUGUAY 5 (5-1, 5-0, 8-1, 4-3)

Brazil made sure of sending off its South American cousin, slowly building the score. It was 5-1 in the first quarter with Uruguay’s contribution coming on counter. Captain Lucas Wulfhorst started the second quarter and added the eighth goal as the score rocketed to 10-1 by halftime. Wulfhorst scored twice more as the score went to 15-1. Lucas Piretti drilled from outside for Uruguay’s second goal as the score moved to 18-2 by the last break. Piretti started the final-quarter scoring, with another shot from the top. Several minutes later he repeated the effort for 18-4. Pedro Ribeiro converted extra with four minutes remaining for 19-4 and Wulfhorst scored off extra for 20-4. Piretti launched another missile from the top, but it was the last for Uruguay as the final two goals went the way of Brazil and 22-5.

Match Heroes
Wulfhorst plundered nine goals in his first outing with Wellder Muniz scoring four and Eduardo Carraresi and Ribeiro three.

Turning Point
There was none.

Stats Don’t Lie
Brazil made all five attempts on extra sand shut out Uruguay’s two chances. It scored both penalties and saved both Colombia’s attempts. Brazil made seven steals to four.

Bottom Line
Wulfhorst will make sure that Brazil elevates into the top tier if he has anything to do with it.

Match 13, Group B, GREECE 9 ITALY 10 (1-4, 2-1, 3-2, 3-3)

Italy started confidently with the first quarter with Simone de Vecchis scoring the first and fourth, the second from penalty. Spyridon Lykoudis opened the scoring in quarter two and de Vecchis scored on extra for 5-2 at 5:01. Greece gained a look-in when it earned a penalty in the last second — the goalkeeper taking the ball under — converting for 5-3 at the turn. There was a lengthy VAR review before the penalty shot was taken. Orestis Zervoudakis scored on extra for 5-4 at 5:18 and Lykoudis had the equaliser at 3:03 on penalty. Lorenzo Demarchi gave Italy the lead from a centre-forward goal, but less than a minute later Iosif Kokkinos scored off extra for 6-6. Francesco Pettonati also scored on extra to give Italy the lead heading into the final quarter. Two quick Italian goals with one on penalty, expanded the margin to three several minutes into the final period. Greece got three back in less than three minutes thanks to Spytholeon Karatzas, Lykoudis and Dimitrios Chatzis. Italy went on extra and after a lot of passes, found Pettonati very deep left and he scored from an acute angle for 10-9 at 1:04. Greece took a timeout at 0:04, however, the shot spun out of the hand of the shooter and went wide left, giving Italy victory.

Match Heroes
De Vecchis scored three with player-of-the-match Francesco Skordo and Pettonati scoring twice. Lykoudis scored three and Kokkinos two.  

Turning Point
That 4-1 first period.

Stats Don’t Lie
Italy converted three from six and defended four from seven on extra-man attack. Greece nailed three from four on penalty and Italy two from three. Italy made seven steals to one and shot 37 times to 25.

Bottom Line
Italy or Greece could have won, but both will be around at the sharp end.

Match 14, Group A, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 13 SERBIA 20 (3-6, 5-6, 4-4, 1-4)

Serbia held off a power-shooting USA and needed all its skills to come away with a handsome victory. Serbia hit the floor running, or in this case, hit the water swimming. And swimming hard and fast, racing to a 4-0 advantage. USA took a timeout, reflected, gained an exclusion and converted for 4-1. It became 4-2 and 5-3 with Serbia countering for the sixth goal before the first break. Luka Gladovic brought up the 8-3 mark and Ben Forer, who scored six goals on day one, netted his first, followed by Connor Ohl and Gavin Appledorn for 8-6 down. USA was back in the match. Strahinja Krstic from centre and Gladovic from penalty, stretched the margin to four. Forer and Vuk Kojic swapped goals in the final minute of the half.

Miljan Djkanovic converted extra for 13-8. Forer did the same for USA and then scored from the penalty line for 13-10. Gladovic scored on extra for 14-10. Forer struck on extra and penalty for 14-12 to keep USA in the frame. The last two goals of the period went to Serbia for 16-12. Krstic and Forer traded goals at the top of the fourth. Gladovic dropped in two goals and suddenly the score was 19-13. That was at 5:34. At 3:24, Djokanovic blasted from outside for what proved to be the final result.

Match Heroes
Forer, with eight goals, was impressive and almost single-handedly dragged his team into the match. Appledorn grabbed a pair. For Serbia, captain Gladovic led by example with six goals, followed by Krstic with five.

Turning Point
The opening segment. Serbia was never going to allow USA to equal or upset.

Stats Don’t Lie
USA made the most of extra-man attack with seven from 11 and stopping nine of 14. USA put away all four penalty attempts and Serbia one. However, Serbia shot 39 times to 27.

Bottom Line
Serbia was the better team all around. USA relies heavily on Forer. Stopping him would be many teams’ main tactic.

Match 15, Group A, SPAIN 23 CROATIA 24 in sudden death penalty shootout. FT: 13-13. Pens 10-11 (4-1, 6-3, 0-4, 3-5. Pens: 10-11)

Croatia needed to wait a long time to see if it could defeat Spain, needing to survive a 21-shot sudden-death penalty shootout. The victory was obtained by winning the final quarter 5-3 after coming from 11-9 behind to go 13-12 ahead and then giving up an extra-man goal to Spain for the shootout to take place. What a match this was. The real tragedy though, was Spain had the match sewn up at 9-2 late in the second quarter. Croatia had the first goal and then had the match snatched away from it, trailing 4-1 at the first break. It was nearly halfway through the second that Tomas Perrone made it 5-1 and Tomas Soler 6-1. Croatia’s early demise was made even worse when Spain went 7-1 up through Unai Lema on extra. Even though Croatia pulled one back, it became 9-2 and finally 10-4 at the long break.

The third period was all Croatia with Bartul Djumic netting twice, both on penalty, with the score reaching 10-8 at 2:04. Soler was excluded on three majors, but there was no change to the score. Duje Cuzzi threw in an outside shot for 10-9 a minute into the final quarter. However, Albert Sabadell found a gap on extra for Spain, nearly 11 minutes since the last Spanish score. Goals were traded and Len Dujmic converted extra for 12-11 down before Bartul Bucevic heroically fired in the 12-12 equaliser at 2:47. Spain took a timeout when on extra but could not convert. However, Croatia did on its opportunity off the left-post position from a near pass and took the lead at 0:52. Bucevic was excluded for his third and Lema plugged the gap from the right-post position at 0:37 for 13-13. A Croatian timeout failed to find a decision and the match went to a shootout.

The rotation was perfect and then it went to sudden death. It went a second rotation without a miss. Sadly for Perrone, he had his slow third attempt saved and Cuzzi made sure of the win for Croatia.

Match Heroes
Dujmic finished with four goals with Mislav Curkovic, Cuzzi and Bucevic all scoring a pair for Croatia. Unai Lema scored four, Carlos Nunez, Perrone and Sabadell two each.

Turning Point
Spain being 9-2 and then losing. That says it all.

Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia made six from 10 on extra and stopped nine from 17. Croatia gained the two penalty goals on offer.

Bottom Line
Spain will find it hard to find consolation tonight as it is loss No. 2. However, there is still time to rebound under this current competition structure. Croatia will celebrate, surely.

Match 16, Group A, MONTENEGRO 9 HUNGARY 10 (2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 1-3)

At any level these nations play close matches. No different here in Buenos Aires. Tim Perov opened for Montenegro and Strahinja Gojkovic had his team at 2-1. Andras Toth and Botond Balogh had the match level before the first break. Toth and Gojkovic traded; Balogh and Ivan Markovic traded for 4-4. Then Danilo Stupar converted extra for Montenegro, sending it to the second half with a 5-4 advantage. Balogh and Stupar traded with Perov extending Montenegro’s lead to 7-5. Balogh went on counter, but the difference was two again when Drasko Samardzic scored on extra-man attack. Zalan Nagy shot from the top for 8-7 to send the teams to the final quarter. Nikola Petrovic scored on extra at 6:13. Now it was time for Hungary to excel with Marton Zeman, Maxim Cseh and Mor Benedek to give Hungary the lead at 1:30. Montenegro went to a timeout twice and Hungary once, for no result. Hungary had staged an amazing comeback.

Match Heroes
Balogh with his four goals and Toth with two for Hungary. Stupar, Perov and Gojkovic all scored twice for Montenegro.

Turning Point
That four-goal burst in the latter stages of the fourth period by Hungary.

Stats Don’t Lie
Montenegro had the better of extra-man with four from six and denying Hungary three from five. Montenegro gained the one penalty goal and even had the higher number of shots at 30 to 27.

Bottom Line
Always back Hungary, especially when it’s down.

Progress Points

Group A: SRB 6, HUN 3, MNE 3, USA 0.
Group B: ITA 6, GRE 3, CRO 2, ESP 1.
Group C: TUR 6, CAN 0, CHN 0.
Group D: ARG 3, BRA 3, URU 0. 
Group E: NZL 3, JPN 3 COL 0.
Group F: AUS 3, KAZ 3, RSA.

Day 3 Schedule

Match 17. 09:00. Group E, Japan v New Zealand
Match 18. 10:30. Group F, Australia v South Africa
Match 19. 12:00. Group C, China v Canada
Match 20. 13:30. Group D, Brazil v Argentina
Match 21. 16:00. Group A, Serbia v Montenegro
Match 22. 17:30. Group B, Italy v Spain
Match 23. 19:00. Group A, United States of America v Hungary
Match 24. 20:30. Group B, Greece v Croatia