U.S. falls to Greece

Coming off a first-place finish in their pool-play group at the 2003

World Championships, the U.S. men’s national water polo team had high

hopes of advancing to the medal round, but those were crushed in a

4-2 quarterfinal loss to Greece Tuesday in Barcelona, Spain.

Featuring five former UC Irvine players, the U.S. had advanced to

the quarterfinals by scoring 32 goals in three games, including two

victories and a tie with 2003 European champion Serbia and

Montenegro. But the U.S. was held to its lowest goal output of the

tournament by Greece.

The U.S. led 1-0 after one quarter, but managed just one more goal

the rest of the match and Greece scored twice in the final period to

advance to the semifinals.

The U.S. will play Romania on Thursday. A victory would put them

in the fifth-place game, while another loss would drop them into the

seventh-place game.

Ryan Bailey, one of the former Irvine players on the squad,

notched one of the U.S. goals, converting on a man-advantage

situation. He was also tops among the five players in minutes,

playing 15:35.

Omar Amr played 13:35 and came up with one blocked shot. Jeff

Powers was in the pool for 12:25, but missed both of his shot

opportunities. Dan Klatt played 10:38 of the match. Genai Kerr served

as the backup goalie and did not play.