WATER POLO: USA Senior National Teams Sweep Canada In Exhibtion Matches at Rio Mesa High School

The USA Men's and Women's Senior National Teams were victorious over Canada in exhibition games played at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, California as part of the USA Water Polo Annual Meeting. The women played first and were winners 10-6 while the men served as the nightcap and were victorious 11-4. The women's team still without the services of Heather Petri, Natalie Golda, Patty Cardenas, and Ericka Lorenz jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first quarter as Lauren Wenger connected on a pair of goals. The Canadians would rally to tie the game at 4-4 before the end of the quarter. In the second USA set about rebuilding their lead and headed into halftime back in front at 8-6 thanks to a score from Brittany Hayes with just 13 seconds left in the period. In the second half the real story was the USA defense as they put the clamps down on the Canada offense. The Canadians did not score in the third or fourth quarters while USA added a pair of goals in the third quarter to post the decisive 10-6 lead. Wenger led the offense with three scores while Betsey Armstrong went the whole way in net turning aside seven shots on the evening. The game also served as a homecoming of sorts for Kami Craig who grew up nearby Santa Barbara, California. Flash Quotes: "The USA stepped up their defense and we didn't execute our power play today. We were happy to see a great crowd as it was somewhat cold tonight. As for tomorrow we will work on all aspects of the game." Patrick Oaten -- Head Coach, Canada "I don't think they scored in the second half so on paper we played better defense. We never had total control of the game but I liked our five on six, I know that was good." Guy Baker -- Head Coach, USA "Tomorrow we will keep the emphasis on defense, the counter attack and five on six. We will keep it with these areas. We are doing a good job offensively attacking, we are getting there." Guy Baker -- Head Coach, USA "The crowd was awesome, great crowd, we enjoy that because it makes games alot of fun. The crowd gives good energy and we like to come out and put on a good show and I think we did that. It is great to play in front of our country, it was nice." Guy Baker -- Head Coach, USA Goals: USA - 10 -- L. Wenger 3, B. Villa 2, M. van Norman 2, K. Craig 1, B. Hayes 1, E. Windes 1 Canada - 6 -- Alogbo 2, Campbell 2, Tomiuk 1, Perreault 1 Saves -- USA -- B. Armstrong 7 -- CAN -- R. Riddell -- 7 The hundreds of fans on hand stayed on hand as the men's game started up despite heavy rain. The men did not disappoint as they got off to a good start leading 2-0 after the first quarter. In the second they really opened things up expanding to a 6-1 lead. Kevin Witt tossed in two of his four goals during that run and at the half USA remained in control at 6-1. In the third quarter Matt Sagehorn sparked the offense with two scores and Team USA was in charge 9-2 as played moved to the fourth quarter in a steady downpour. The finishing touches were put on the game in the fourth as Witt added the other two scores. Not to be overlooked was a solid defensive effort by the team. Merrill Moses and Brandon Brooks split time in the cage with the duo combining for eight saves. The contest was a familiar location for Brian Alexander who coaches water polo at nearby Westlake High School. Rick Merlo served as captain for this contest. Goals: USA - 11 -- K. Witt 4, M. Sagehorn 3, B. Alexander 1, T. Hopkins 1, R. Merlo 1, J. Delgadillo 1 Canada - 4 -- Marks 1, Palamaravic 1, Robinson 1, Boyd 1 Saves -- USA -- B. Brooks 7, M. Moses 1 -- CAN -- Youngblud 3, Glisic 1