Pre-Olympic Water Polo : U.S. Loses Final, Wins Series and Respect

The top-ranked Yugoslavian national water polo team, which beat the United States for the gold medal in 1984 and is due for a rematch in the first round of the Olympic Games at Seoul, wrapped up a six-game series by defeating the U.S. team Saturday at Pepperdine.

But it was close, 11-10.

Not as close as the game that Yugoslavia won in the same Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool for the gold medal in ’84. That game ended in a 5-5 tie, and Yugoslavia took the gold on total goals in the Games.

Although it was tough to lose this time, especially when it would have been nice to partially make up for the Olympic disappointment, the U.S. team took solace in winning the 6-game series, 4-2.

The series was close all the way. The Americans opened with an 11-10 victory at Stockton, then followed with a 6-5 win at Palo Alto and a 9-6 decision at Newport Beach, before losing, 10-9, at San Diego. The United States won again, 10-9, at Long Beach.

Asked if the competition in the Olympic Games will be as close as this series indicated, U.S. Coach Bill Barnett said: “What you see is what you get.”

These teams are really getting to know one another. Water polo is not one of the sports that renews itself with a fresh crop of young talent every couple of years. It is a sport of veterans, not college kids.

Terry Schroeder, the U.S. team captain, is 28 and has been on the national team for 10 years. He played for Pepperdine and now coaches the Waves.

And he’s not the oldest player on the team.

It’s the same with the Yugoslavian team. These are men, not boys. They’re the same ones who played in ’84. And in ’85 and ’86 and ‘87, for that matter. At every major international competition, the United States, Yugoslavia and a select few others, such as the Soviet Union--which is tied with Yugoslavia for the world’s No. 1 ranking--always seem to end up in the final rounds.

When Yugoslavian Coach Ranko Posinkovic stood on the deck after the game speculating on how the Olympic competition might unfold, he named the same countries and said: “We will have to have a very good performance, because there are maybe four teams in our group that can beat anybody.”

He counts the United States among them.

Schroeder said: “When you play the No. 1 team in the world and beat them 4 out of 6, that has to build the team’s confidence. . . . Of course we were disappointed to lose this game, though. Because of the Olympics and all. And it’s going to be on Prime Ticket.”

Prime Ticket’s telecast of the game will be shown Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

It’s a show with a big ending.

The U.S. team started slowly, letting Yugoslavia get out to a 3-0 lead before Doug Kimbell scored the first goal for the Americans. Jody Campbell scored two straight goals, both from the same spot just to the left of the goal, to tie the game, 5-5, with 1:04 left in the second period. And the U.S. finally took a brief lead on Schroeder’s goal with 3:30 to play in the third period.

But Yugoslavia kept pace with goals of its own despite the experienced play of Craig Wilson in goal, who made 7 saves to the 5 Ranko Posinkovic had for the winners.

Yugoslavia was leading, 11-9, when Wilson came out of the goal to make a steal and a long pass to Kevin Robertson, who passed to Mike Evans, who put the U.S. within a point with 2:01 to play. The U.S. had a couple of opportunities to attack the Yugoslav goal in the final minutes, even getting a 6 on 5 chance in the final seconds.

“It’s frustrating when you have the opportunities and you have the shots, and you just don’t make them,” Barnett said.

Next month, the U.S. team will travel to West Germany for a tournament and then will go to, you guessed it, Yugoslavia.