USA Men Defeat Ecuador 27-0 To Begin Play At 2015 Pan American Games
July 08, 2015 | Men's Water Polo
TORONTO, Canada -- The U.S. Pan American Men's Water Polo Team dispatched Ecuador 27-0 making a statement to open play in this 2016 Olympic Games qualifier on Tuesday night.
Bret Bonanni (Huntington Beach, CA/Stanford/Stanford) had a monster day scoring a game-high nine goals while McQuin Baron (North Tustin, CA/USC/Regency) recorded a shutout with six saves.
Team USA returns to action tomorrow when they take on Cuba at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT. They close out group play on Saturday with a meeting against Argentina at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT. Video coverage is not available for these matches but live game updates will be available via Twitter by following USA Water Polo (@USAWP).
This match was never in doubt as the United States stormed out to a 5-0 first quarter lead behind two goals from Bonanni. The Bonanni goals started and ended the period. In between, Alex Obert (Loomis, CA/Pacific/Sac Polo), Jackson Kimbell (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/Newport), and Luca Cupido (Newport Beach, CA/California/Newport) found the net to help build the advantage.
Team USA kept at it in the second period exploding for nine goals, getting a variety of players in on the act. Cupido, Josh Samuels (Villa Park, CA/UCLA/NYAC), and Alex Roelse (Maarssen, Netherlands/UCLA/Bruin) all scored two goals to create a 13-0 lead at halftime. Bonanni kept rolling in the third, scoring two more goals as part of a five-goal effort to go ahead 18-0, headed to the final eight minutes.
Just when it seemed the scoring might be complete, Team USA tacked on nine goals in the fourth period, their most of any quarter in the match. Bonanni added four more goals in the fourth along with two from Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford/Stanford).
Team USA went 8-for-12 on power plays and 2-for-2 on penalties while Ecuador was 0-for-2 on power play attempts and did not attempt a penalty shot.
Notes: Connor Virjee (Rolling Hills, CA/USC/Trojan) voluntarily withdrew from the Pan Am Games competition prior to the teams arrival in Toronto, he has been replaced by Nikola Vavic (Palos Verdes, CA/USC/Trojan). Ecuador's team has some familiar faces to USA Water Polo. Orange Lutheran Coach Ed Carrera was joined on the roster by Long Beach State commits and triplets Garret, Troy and Chandler Kaltenbach.
Scoring:
6x5 - USA 8/12 - ECU - 0/2
Penalties - USA - 2/2 - ECU - 0/0
USA vs. Ecuador (Pan Am Games)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| USA | 5 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 27 |
| Ecuador | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
USA Goals: B. Bonanni 9, L. Cupido 5, J. Samuels 4, A. Bowen 3, J. Kimbell 2, A. Roelse 2, A. Obert 2
USA Saves: M. Baron 6
Ecuador Goals: None
Ecuador Saves: G. Kaltenbach 11
