The U.S. men’s water polo team won a thrilling 11–10 victory over Australia in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hannes Daube and Alex Bowen scored two goals each for Team USA, and goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg was exceptional with two saves in a penalty shootout. The team will play Serbia in the semifinals.
The United States is gunning for its first medal in men’s water polo since winning silver at the Beijing Games in 2008. The top seeds, Greece and Spain, have been eliminated.
The game was tied 5–5 heading into the final quarter. Weinberg and the U.S. defense continued to smother Australia, and Daube gave the Americans their first lead, 6–5, with a power-play goal of 6:03 remaining in the game. The Aussies went scoreless for 19 minutes before Luke Pavillard tied the game 6–6 with 2:43 remaining.
Pavillard scored his fourth goal with 1:53 left; however, Bowen tied the game 7–7 with 33 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
In the shootout, Daube, Max Irving, Bowen, and Marko Vavic scored for the U.S. Weinberg stopped shots by Milos Maksimovic and Chaz Poot to preserve the victory.
Australia finished second in Group B, the hardest division, which included defending champions Serbia and 2020 bronze medalists Hungary, along with Japan, Spain, and host France. The Aussies opened with a 9–5 loss to Spain but bounced back with wins against Tokyo and Serbia. Then, Australia beat both France and Hungary 9–8 before losing 14–13 to Japan.
Team USA finished third in its group to make the quarterfinals. The Americans were beaten by Italy (12–8) and Greece (13–11) but won against Croatia (14–11), Montenegro (12–7), and Romania (14–8).
Australia’s last victory over the United States came at the 2022 Intercontinental Cup in Lima two years ago, when Blake Edwards scored four goals in the 12–11 victory.
The Americans have an experienced team, including team captain and two-time Olympian Ben Hallock, who won three Champions League titles with the Italian club Pro Recco. Ten of the 13 players in Paris also competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Australia led 3–1 at the end of the first quarter on two goals by Pavillard and another by Maksimovic. Johnny Hooper scored for the Americans, and Irving appeared to tie the game with under a minute.
However, Hooper was ejected for throwing a punch that set up a successful penalty shot for Pavillard. Each team had 10 possessions in the opening quarter.
The Aussies kept rolling and extended the lead to 4–1 on a goal by Maksimovic. The Americans pulled within two on a goal by Bowen, but Jacob Mercep answered for Australia 28 seconds later. The score could have been worse, but Weinberg managed several saves, and Luca Cupido scored a power-play goal with 22 seconds remaining to cut the margin to 5–3 at the break.
The Americans maintained the momentum and took advantage of Australia’s miscues. Weinberg stopped a penalty shot by Maksimovic, which also helped spark the Americans. Ryder Dodd and Daube scored to tie the game with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
The United States and Australia have a storied history in water polo. They have played 27 times since July 2014, with the Americans now holding a 14–13 edge. The USA has also won the last six matches.
Before their quarterfinal match, the teams most recently played at the World Aquatics World Championships in Doha in February, and Australia came away with a 16–10 victory.
The United States earned its 2024 Olympic men’s water polo berth by winning the gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Australia’s best Olympic finishes were fifth in the Los Angeles Games in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992.
