2023 World U20 Championship Tournament Site
OTOPENI, Romania — Princeton University goalkeeper West Temkin (Fr., Alamo, Calif./Campolindo) stopped 10 shots, but a power-play goal with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter allowed Serbia to escape the United States in the final contest of Group B action, 8-7, at the 22nd World U20 Championships in Otopeni, near Bucharest, Romania.
Team USA – which defeated Greece by a 13-10 count on Saturday, June 10, behind 10 saves from Temkin prior to suffering a 12-6 setback versus Hungary on Sunday, June 11, with five saves by Temkin and a trio by fellow American Griffen Price – claims third place in Group B. Hungary (17-15 W vs. Serbia, 12-6 W vs. USA, 12-6 W vs. Greece) and Serbia (17-15 L vs. Hungary, 14-12 W vs. Greece, 8-7 W vs. USA) finish first and second in Group B, while Greece (13-10 L vs. USA, 14-12 L vs. Serbia, 12-6 L vs Hungary) takes fourth place.
Following playoff games on Tuesday, June 13, pitting the Netherlands versus Japan (11:00 a.m. Eastern) and Romania versus Australia (12:30 p.m. Eastern), the United States will return to the water on Wednesday, June 14, for its next game. Competing in a U20 field against teams from Europe (Serbia, Spain, Hungary, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Romania, Montenegro), Asia (Japan, Kazakhstan, Iran, China), the Americas (Brazil, USA, Argentina, Canada, Peru), Africa (South Africa) and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand) – the United States will take on the fallen from the Romania-Australia game on June 14 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern, while Croatia battles the loser of the Netherlands-vs.-Japan at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Italy meets the victor of the Netherlands-Japan contest at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, while Greece squares off versus the victor of the Romania-Australia game at 12:30 p.m. Eastern to set the stage for the quarterfinals on Thursday, June 15.
The matchups for June 13-15 are:
Playoffs (Tuesday, June 13) – Playoff match 1: Netherlands – Japan, Playoff match 2: Romania – Australia
Eighth-finals (Wednesday, June 14) – EF1: Croatia – loser PO1, EF2: USA – loser PO2, EF3: Italy – winner PO1; EF4: Greece – winner PO 2
Quarterfinals (Thursday, June 15): Spain – winner EF4, Hungary – winner EF3, Montenegro – winner EF2, Serbia – winner EF1
Squaring off with Serbia with a potential top two finish in Group B on the line, the Untied States appeared primed to pull off an upset in the first quarter as Team USA jumped out to a 1-0 lead 23 seconds into the game. Following an equalizer by the Serbs, the Team USA buried another shot to acquire a 2-1 margin with 5:16 left in the frame.
The Americans continue an offensive onslaught via a penalty shot (6:48) and a pair of man-up strikes (3:06, 2:13) to stun the Serbians by pulling ahead 5-1 with slightly over two minutes left in the first half.
However, the Serbs served up a bit of retribution by putting away man-up (1:48) and penalty shot (35 seconds) markers to trim the Americans lead to 5-3 heading into halftime.
Serbia’s run continued in the third quarter as the squad notched back-to-back man-up scores (6:14, 5:33) to balance the scoreboard at five-all prior to a natural marker at 3:26 putting the European’s ahead for the first time at 6-5.
Following an American goal with 1:50 left in the third quarter to make it a six-all contest heading into the fourth quarter, Serbia once again pulled ahead at 7-6 56 seconds into the final eight minutes of regulation.
The United States pulled even with 3:24 to play, but a man-up tally by the Serbs with 1:12 on the clock proved to be the deciding factor in the game.
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