The U.S. and Romania were tied 3-3 going into the second quarter of Tuesday's men's water polo pool play game in Paris. The rest of the game was all Team USA. The Americans held Romania scoreless in the second quarter and allowed just one goal in the third on the way to a decisive 14-8 win.
Tuesday was the first win for the Americans in the Paris Games. They were coming off of a 12-8 loss to Italy on Day 1 of the tournament.
The U.S. led 6-3 at the half and 10-4 at the end of the third.
“That was the response we needed," said American Hannes Daube. "We came out aggressive and we were more of a unit. We had a better mentality. There were moments in the game we relaxed, which I don't like, but we recovered at the end and finished strong."
Daube and Alex Bowen both had hat tricks for the U.S., and Johnny Hooper added two goals. All three of Bowen's goals came in the fourth quarter. Tuesday was the second game Daube was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
"It was just what the team needed, but without my teammates, I wouldn't have three goals," Daube said. "They made great passes, great plays, and set me up.”
American keeper Alex Weinberg had 14 saves on 22 shots by the Romanians. Silvian Colodrovschi and Vlad-Luca Georgescu led Romania with three goals each.
Day 3 of the men's water polo competition will take place on Thursday. The U.S. (1-1) will open the day with a 4:30 a.m. ET contest against Greece, and Romania (0-2) will take on Croatia at 1:30 p.m. ET.