Winning the silver medal at World League
6/23
We jumped into the pool last night with one of the best teams in the world. Even though we lost, I feel that we came out of the pool a different team. The Serbians have dominated us over the past 4 -5 years. In the past they have crushed us. This game was different – it was really ours to win. We now fully understand and believe that we can beat anyone.
At the end of three periods we were behind 4 – 3. We had outplayed them in most parts of the game but we struggled to score on our power play opportunities. In the end, we lost 7 – 3. The Serbs knew that they had been in a battle and they knew that they had been a little lucky. We missed two penalty shots and we were 1 out of 9 on our extra man. The Serbian goalie played a great game and he made it very difficult for us to score all night.
As I shook hands with the Serbian coach after the game, he complimented me on how much our team has improved over the past few months. One thing is for sure, we opened a lot of eyes this week in the water polo world. We sent a message that Team USA is back and we WILL be a contender. Our silver medal in the World League is the best that we have ever done in this particular competition. Our team captain, Tony Azevedo told me that this was the first significant final that he had been involved in since he began playing with the Team USA back in 1998. I told him to “get used to it.”
The belief is growing. Now it is onto Hungary for a few days of training and one official game on Wednesday night. It will be another great test for us. I am sure that they will have a nice “home” crowd ready to welcome us.
See you at the pool!
Coach
We jumped into the pool last night with one of the best teams in the world. Even though we lost, I feel that we came out of the pool a different team. The Serbians have dominated us over the past 4 -5 years. In the past they have crushed us. This game was different – it was really ours to win. We now fully understand and believe that we can beat anyone.
At the end of three periods we were behind 4 – 3. We had outplayed them in most parts of the game but we struggled to score on our power play opportunities. In the end, we lost 7 – 3. The Serbs knew that they had been in a battle and they knew that they had been a little lucky. We missed two penalty shots and we were 1 out of 9 on our extra man. The Serbian goalie played a great game and he made it very difficult for us to score all night.
As I shook hands with the Serbian coach after the game, he complimented me on how much our team has improved over the past few months. One thing is for sure, we opened a lot of eyes this week in the water polo world. We sent a message that Team USA is back and we WILL be a contender. Our silver medal in the World League is the best that we have ever done in this particular competition. Our team captain, Tony Azevedo told me that this was the first significant final that he had been involved in since he began playing with the Team USA back in 1998. I told him to “get used to it.”
The belief is growing. Now it is onto Hungary for a few days of training and one official game on Wednesday night. It will be another great test for us. I am sure that they will have a nice “home” crowd ready to welcome us.
See you at the pool!
Coach
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
11:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home