The men of USA Water Polo put up a great fight but are out of medal contention

Yesterday was the men’s quarterfinal game and Team USA put up a great fight against Spain. The game was either tied or a one goal name almost until the end. But alas, they came up short and will do their best to play for a 5th place shot this time around.

Before many of the games (but not all), the men will huddle up in the pool and rally for the game ahead. 

Both teams traded goals, with the US taking the lead at one point. 

Alex Wolf had his hands full with the Spaniards, but played an exceptional game. 

Oh no - another headless water polo player. 😀

This was a rare site, with the goalie facing a shooter almost at point blank range. 

Unfortunately, Alex was not able to stop the shot, but it was a heck of an effort and made for some great photo opportunities. 

Luca Cupido continues to put up the big shots and the points. 

When photographing water polo, it is important to look at the action away from the ball. We tend to follow the ball as it is passed from one athlete to the next, but there is often a battle in the 2 meter position (in front of the net). We need to get that too!

This moment cracked me up. There was a break in the action, and at that very moment Alex Bowen looked at the official and gave him the look like “Really? You are not going to call that foul?” I saw this and quickly turned the camera on him to get this. 

Now that is using your head…

This was either a split second after the ball went out of play or it was Alex checking on me to see if I was shooting in focus. I was.

I love the trails of water that come off the ball.

It was the last couple of minutes of the game and the Spaniards were awarded a penalty shot. As a photographer, penalty shots are golden opportunities to get great photos. We know a shot is coming and can prefocus on the athlete. Unfortunately, they scored and it was the back breaker as the Americans went down by 3 points. 

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