Bruins Help Team USA Win Gold, Qualify for 2020 Olympics
August 12, 2019 | Men's Water Polo, Women's Water Polo
LIMA, Peru -- The USA Men's and Women's National Teams both defeated Canada in the finals of the 2019 Pan American Games on Aug. 10 to win gold and qualify both teams for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The USA Women's National Team continued their run of dominance, defeating Canada 24-4. The victory marked the 59th straight win for Team USA and fifth straight Pan American Games title. Despite losing Rachel Fattal (Seal Beach, CA/UCLA) and Alys Williams (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA) to illness before the match, Team USA persevered behind six goals from Makenzie Fischer (Laguna Beach, CA/Stanford) alongside four goals each from Maggie Steffens (Danville, CA/Stanford) and Stephania Haralabidis (Athens, Greece/USC) plus 17 saves from Ashleigh Johnson (Miami, FL/Princeton). Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/UCLA) scored three goals against the Canadians. Team USA finished play in Peru 6-0 outscoring opponents by a margin 142-24. For more on the Pan American Games including schedules and results, click here.
The USA Men's National Team defeated Canada 18-6 to win their seventh straight Pan American Games gold medal. After a close victory over Canada in group play by just two goals, Team USA left no doubt in this match as Alex Bowen (Santee, CA/Stanford), Johnny Hooper (Los Angeles, CA/California) and Ben Hallock (Westlake Village, CA/Stanford) all powered the offense with five goals apiece. Alex Wolf (Huntington Beach, CA/UCLA) picked up the victory in net turning aside 13 shots. Team USA finished play in Lima with a 6-0 record and outscored their opponents by a margin of 117-27. For more on the Pan American Games including schedules and results, click here.
Four Bruins were part of the women's run to gold, which included former UCLA player and coach Adam Krikorian guiding the U.S. women. Attacker Musselman scored 13 goals in six games with 10 assists, four steals and one field block. Attacker Fattal added nine goals in five games with 13 assists, six steals and one field block. Defender Williams contributed 12 goals in five games with six assists, two steals and two field blocks.
Your 2019 Pan American Games Women's Water Polo Champions!@TeamUSA
— USA Water Polo (@USAWP) August 10, 2019
The USA Women defeated Canada 24-4 in the final for their 59th straight victory! #Lima2019 #AllGoldEverything
Photo by Mariana Bazo pic.twitter.com/vVeI0iAf5M
Four Bruins were also part of the men's run to gold which included former UCLA player Matt Farmer (La Grange, IL) who made the trip but was an alternate and did not play. Attacker Max Irving (Long Beach, CA) scored nine goals in six games with nine assists, four steals and three field blocks. Defender Chancellor Ramirez (Pasadena, CA) added six goals in six games with six assists, five steals and one field block. Goalkeeper Alex Wolf (Huntington Beach, CA) started in the cage in all six games, registering tournament-bests among all goalies in goals against average (4.36), saves (63), saves per game (10.55) and steals (10, led the team).
The USA Men's National Team defeated Canada 18-6 to claim ?? at the @Lima2019Games & in the process qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games!@ben_hallock, @Amazing_Brick & @johnnyxhooper all scored 5 goals in the win with Alex Wolf making 13 saves.
— USA Water Polo (@USAWP) August 11, 2019
RECAP: https://t.co/mw8Eyf7VQ9 pic.twitter.com/50Y7udZFgY
