Montenegro comes back from 5-goal deficit to beat Croatia

Montenegro and Hungary are atop their groups in Division 1 after two days of the 22nd World U20 Championships in Otopeni. Both teams qualified for the quarterfinals since neither can drop lower than 2nd place in its group.

Montenegro defeated Croatia today after a penalty shootout (14:12) in Group A. The Montenegrins came back from five goals down to earn two points.  The Croats, led 9:4 in the third period. However, they didn’t score a goal in the last ten minutes. The Montenegrins netted five, or precisely – all five were scored by Marko Mrsic, and prolonged the match in a shootout

Spain beat Italy 10:9 in the first today’s game in this group.

Today’s session in Division 1 was opened by an encounter between Serbia and Greece. Serbia earned a 14:12 win in a thrilling contest. Hungary downed USA 12:6.

All three of today’s matches in Division 2 were lopsided contests.

Division 2, Day 2 – Group C: Japan – South Africa 26:12, Group E: Peru – Romania 5:32, Group F: Australia – Argentina 16:4.

2023 World U20 Championships, Otopeni, Day 2

Division 1

GROUP A

Spain – Italy 10:9 (2:2, 3:2, 2:2, 3:3)

Spain: Valls 4, Lopez 2, Ramon 2, Bargallo 2.
Italy: Condemi 5, Balzarini 1, Rossi 1, Somma 1.

Spain earned the first three points, so it will probably avoid 4th place in the group. Spain had to dig deep to beat Italy, and one of the heroes of the win was goalkeeper Xavier Teclas, who posted 16 saves, some of them in crucial moments.

From the beginning, it was an even contest. Italy led 1:0, 2:1, 3:2. Midway through the second quarter, Marc Valls scored two goals within 65 seconds (the first one from a penalty, the second with a man-up) and put the Spaniards in front – 4:3. The Italian team became the side that had to chase the rival. The young “Settebello” leveled at 4:4 and 5:5. Then came Valls again, with two back-to-back goals. In the 20th minute, he converted a penalty, and two goals separated the rivals for the first time – 7:5.

Italy was caught up with the rival twice in the opening minutes of the final period – at 7:7 and 8:8. After Italy’s eighth goal, one of the turning points happened. Spain lost the ball in its attack, and Italy started a counter. Francesco Condemi, the best scorer of the game, found himself alone in front of Teclas, but Spain’s goalie made another save and boosted his team’s self-confidence. In the following minutes, Spain rebuilt a 2-goal lead (10:8).

Condemi scored his fifth goal for 9:10 with 65 seconds left on the clock. Everything was still open. Spain lost the ball in its last attack. Italy had a full 30-second possession to level the score, but in the dying seconds, Teclas came up with another save. This time, he blocked a shot from Somma in the dying seconds and Spain took all three points.

Montenegro – Croatia 14:12 (2:2, 1:4, 2:3, 4:0, PSO 5:3)

Montenegro: Mrsic 7, Stevovic 2, Sladovic 2,Vukicevic 1, Vujovic 1, Stupar 1,
Croatia: Cubranic 3, Radic 3, Tonicic 3, Pavlic 2, Zvono 1,

Penalty shootout: 1:0 Mrsic, Mozara – Radovic saved; Sladovic 2:0, Radic 2:1; Vukicevic 3:1, Cubranic 3:2; Vujovic 4:2, Zvono 4:3; Stevovic 5:3.

The Croats scored an opening goal in the match, but Montenegro responded with two. However, at the first break, the sides were tied at 2:2.

At the beginning of the second period, Tonicic converted a man-up to give Croatia a 3:2 lead. Pavlic doubled an advantage in the 15th minute, but immediately after Croatia’s fourth goal, Mrsic converted a man-up for 3:4. With two goals in the last 37 seconds, the Croats built a 3-goal advantage. First, Tonicic scored from a 6 on 5. Four seconds before the end of the second quarter, Vlaho Pavlic fired the ball from seven meters, and Croatia headed into the third period with a 6:3.

Croatia opened the third quarter in the same way it closed the second period. It netted another goal from a distance in its first possession. This time, Radic was the scorer. He stretched the margin to 7:3. Deep into the third quarter, Croatia streched the margin to five (9:4). It looked like the winner was decided.

Still, the contest was far from the end. Montenegro tightened its defense after the Croats’ ninth goal. At the other end of the pool, Marko Mrsic was Montenegro’s power engine in the attack. He scored four straight goals and narrowed the gap to one (8:9) with 01:32 minutes left on the clock. After that goal, Croatia’s head coach Igor Hinic called a time-out. But, it didn’t give the desired result. Croatia didn’t end its scoreless run, and Montenegro got a chance to level the score in the last minute. The Montenegrins forced a man-up with 53 seconds remaining on the clock. Marko Mrsic took responsibility and netted his fifth consecutive goal to equalize (9:9). Montenegro’s goalkeeper Ilija Radovic saved a shot from Roberto Radic in Croatia’s last attack, so nothing was decided after 32 minutes.

Radovic made the difference in a shootout. He blocked a shot from Mozara in the 1st round. That was Radovic’s 11th save in the match and the only miss in the series of penalty shots.

1.Montenegro 2 – 5
2. Croatia 2 – 4
3. Spain 2 – 3
4. Italy 2 – 0

Day 3 (June 12): Italy – Montenegro (15:00), Spain – Croatia (18:00) Times are local

GROUP B

Greece – Serbia 12:14 (5:3, 1:4, 5:4, 1:3)

Greece: Gkillas 6, Kastrinakis 2, Laskaridis 1, Bitsakos 1, Pouros 1, Spahic 1.
Serbia: Kojic 3, Martinovic 3, Dimitrijevic 2, Gladovic 2, Gavrilovic 1, Urosevic 1 , Brescanski 1, Kovacevic 1.

Both teams had their good and bad intervals in the first half. The third and the fourth periods were an even contest until the end.

Serbia quickly took an opening 2:0 lead. But, Greece found its rhythm, and, led by Nikolaos Gkillas, scored four straight goals to go to 4:2. At the first break, the distance was still two goals (5:3). Serbia came back into the match in the second quarter. The team in the blue caps leveled at 5:5 in the 11th minute. Pouros replied with a power-play goal for 6:5, which turned out to be Greece’s last advantage in the match. Urosevic and Dimitrijevic gave Serbia a 7:6 lead before the middle break.

Nikolaos Gkillas leveled at 7:7 from a nice lob shot in Greece’s first possession in the third quarter and a long exchange of goals started. Serbia took a one-goal lead, and Greece responded with an equalizer five times – until 12:12. Three and a half minutes before the end, Kastrinakis netted a 6 on 5 for 12:12.

A minute and a half later, Gavrilovic converted a man-up for 13:12. After that, Greece had no response. The Greeks earned an extra man in their next possession but wasted it because of a wrong pass. Their hopes were still alive because Serbia made a mistake in its following possession. However, that was followed by a personal foul by Georgaras in Serbia’s half of the field at 00:53. The reigning champions had an excellent opportunity to secure the win, and they didn’t miss a chance. Dimtirijevic ended the thrilling contest with a power-play goal with 33 seconds to go.

Serbia had significantly more attempts to score in this match. The winners’ percentage of shots was 40% (14/35) and Greece’s 46% (12/26).

Since Hungary beat the USA in today’s second match in the group, Greece lost chances of moving from 4th place.

USA – Hungary 6:12 (2:3, 0:3, 1:4, 3:2)

USA: Carson 2, Watson 1, Ch.Dodd 1, Rowe 1, Castillo 1.
Hungary: Meszaros 3, Tatrai 2, Szecsi 2, Vismeg 2, A. Nagy 2, Vigvari 1

Team USA opened the match excellently, but the Americans’ joy didn’t last long, as Hungary started demonstrating its power in the middle of the first period.

In the 3rd minute, the USA had a 2:0 lead. However, Hungary recovered quickly from a bad start. Szecsi put the Europeans on the scoreboard in the 4th minute for 1:2. The Hungarians’ defense and the attack consolidated. After their 2nd goal, the Americans didn’t find the net in the next 18 minutes. During that interval, Hungary scored nine goals and earned a 9:2 advantage. Hungary had a nine-goal advantage in the middle of the final quarter (11:3). In the last three and a half minutes, USA scored three consolation goals.

Hungary outplayed the USA, and many details made the difference. However, the big difference in power-play conversion is the most visible. Hungary scored five goals with an extra player. Team USA had significantly more chances but netted only twice from a 6 on 5 (2/14).

1. Hungary 2 – 5
2. Serbia 2 – 4
3. USA 2 – 3
4. Greece 2 – 0

Day 3 (June 12): Serbia – USA (16:30), Greece – Hungary (19:30). Times are local

SCHEDULE AND LIVE SCORES OF THE WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS AT TOTAL WATERPOLO ARENA

Division 2

GROUP C

Japan – South Africa 26:12 (4:1, 9:2, 6:4, 7:5)

Japan: Ogihara 9, Inoue 4, Moriya 3, Ura 2, Sasaki 2, Kitanaka 1, Sato 1, Jo 1, Fukuda 1, Takeuchi 1, Kano 1.
South Africa: Harrod 3, Bungane 2, Uys 2, Botha 2, Fisher 1, De Villers 1, Imbriolo 1.

Germany bye

Japan’s rushing start determined the outcome of the match. Japan opened the match with a 3:0 lead. Early in the second period, Japanese had a 6:1 advantage. At halftime, the difference was ten goals (13:3). South Africa’s attack started working better in the second half. However, Japan maintained its rhythm in offense, so their win wasn’t in danger.

Japan will battle with Germany for the 1st place in the group and a spot in the eighth-finals. South Africa will have a day off tomorrow, and after that, it will go to the classification for 13th-20th place.

Standings: 1. Japan 3 points (1 game), 2. Germany 3 (1), 3. South Africa 0 (2).

GROUP D

Brazil and Netherlands bye.

Standings: 1.Netherlands 3 (1), 2. Brazil 3 (1).

GROUP E

Peru – Romania 5:32 (1:8, 2:8, 0:9, 2:7)

Peru: D.A.Contreras 3, Lopez 1, Rodriguez 1.
Romania:Neamtu 6, Belenyesi 4, Insinna 4, Pascaluta 4, Piriianu 4, Tepelus 4, Dinca 2, Burda 1, Matei 1, Sachetti 1, Armean 1.

New Zealand bye

Romania is the first team that qualified for the eighth-finals from Division 2. After yesterday’s victory over New Zealand, the hosts sank Peru. Romania will play against the winner of Group F (probably Australia) in the playoff round. The winner of that match will play against the 4th-placed team in Group B (Greece), and the loser will meet the 3rd-placed in Group B in the eighth-finals.

As for the game against Peru, the statistics say that even if each scoring attempt from the Peruvians had been a goal, Romania would have won. Peru took 22 shots, and Romania 44.

Standings: 1. Romania 6 (2), 2. New Zealand 0 (1), 3. Peru 0 (1).

GROUP F

Australia – Argentina 16:4 (2:1, 3:1, 6:2, 5:0)

Australia: Grgurevic 6, Berehulak 4, Glanzing 2, Lancester 1, Munk 1, Krstic 1, McKell.
Argentina: Lucero 2, Giri 1, Camino 1.

Iran bye.

Australia opened its World U20 Championships campaign as expected – with a victory, but the South Americans didn’t surrender easily. At the finish of the first quarter, the score was 1:1. Five seconds before the first break, Berehulak gave Australia a 2:1 lead. The “Sharks”, with unstoppable Andrej Grgurevic, dominated the next three periods.

Standings: 1. Australia 3 (1), 2. Iran 3 (1), 3. Argentina 0 (2).

SCHEDULE AND LIVE SCORES OF THE WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS AT TOTAL WATERPOLO ARENA

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