U.S. team overpowers Pan Am Games foes

The U.S. men’s national water polo team continued to roll over its

competition at the 2003 Pan American Games Monday with a 14-2 defeat

of Puerto Rico at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Aquatics Center in

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in its attempt to qualify for the

2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

With five former UC Irvine players on the roster, the U.S. is now

3-0 in Pan American preliminary competition and holds a goal

differential of plus-48.

The U.S. has four preliminary games left, including Wednesday’s

match against Canada, the only team that poses a serious threat to

the U.S.’s unblemished record.

The gold medal winner at the Pan American Games is an automatic

qualifier for the Olympics.

For the third straight game, all five former Anteaters contributed

to the victory. Ryan Bailey scored twice, Jeff Powers added a goal

and Genai Kerr made a pair of saves.

Powers scored in the second quarter, firing a shot cross-cage into

the lower-right corner, giving the U.S. a 6-1 lead at the time.

That goal game in the middle of a 9-0 run by the United States

that was capped by Bailey’s sweep shot from the hole late in the

third quarter, pushing the lead to 10-1.

After Puerto Rico halted that run, Bailey scored his second goal

of the match on the next possession.

Kerr came on in relief of starting goalie Brandon Brooks and made

two saves. On Sunday night, also in relief of Brooks, Kerr came up

with five stops in a 17-5 defeat of Brazil.

Powers scored twice in that game and another former UC Irvine

player, Dan Klatt, added two goals.

The U.S. opened the tournament with a 24-0 defeat of the Dominican

Republic in which four former UC Irvine players, Bailey, Powers,

Klatt and Omar Amr, scored. Kerr also came on in relief of Brooks in

the contest, recording one save.

The U.S. is scheduled to return to the pool tonight against

Mexico, which is currently in second place in the standings with a

1-0-2 record, but a goal differential of just plus-one.

Canada had played just one match until Monday’s late meeting with

Brazil, winning the lone contest 11-2.

Puerto Rico dropped to 0-2-1 in the tournament, ahead of only last

place Argentina and the Dominican Republic.