Former Anteaters lead U.S. squad at Pan Am Games

Four former UC Irvine players scored, including three goals each by

Ryan Bailey and Omar Amr, as the U.S. men’s national water polo team

trounced host Dominican Republic 24-0 Saturday in the opening game of

the 2003 Pan American Games at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Aquatics

Center in Santo Domingo.

The U.S. followed that rout with a 17-5 victory over Brazil on

Sunday to move to the top of the standings at the games.

Fresh off a sixth-place finish at the 2003 World Championships,

the U.S. team is fighting for a spot in the 2004 Olympic Games. The

gold medal winner at the Pan Am Games is an automatic qualifier for

the Athens, Greece competition next year.

With five former Anteaters on the team, UC Irvine has a large

interest in the national team and all five players contributed

Saturday against the Dominican Republic.

Amr began the scoring for the U.S., netting his first goal just

over two minutes into the match and added two more by the end of the

first quarter.

Jeff Powers also scored twice in the first quarter, giving the

U.S. a 5-0 lead after the period.

Bailey scored the first of his three goals to begin the second

quarter, connecting from two meters away.

In the third quarter, Dan Klatt netted a goal, scoring off a lob

pass from Powers, giving the U.S. an 18-0 lead after three periods.

Bailey scored the opening goal of the fourth quarter, his third of

the contest.

Genai Kerr, who serves as the back-up goalie to Brandon Brooks,

came into the game in the second half and recorded one save.

Sunday’s victory over Brazil was a strong statement toward the

achievement of the U.S.’s goal of Olympic qualification. Brazil,

Canada and the U.S. are considered the only true contenders for the

automatic berth.

The U.S. won the gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in

Winnipeg, Canada. A repeat of that success will be needed in the

Dominican Republic to return to the Olympic Games.

While the former UC Irvine standouts were playing a role with the

full national team, former Corona del Mar High water polo player John

Mann was doing his best to lead the U.S. junior men’s water polo

team.

The junior team lost their opening game in the Four Nations

tournament in Catania, Italy Friday, falling 11-6 to Greece.

But the 6-foot-5 Mann, who will be a sophomore at UC Berkeley,

scored twice and also drew an ejection in the first quarter that led

to another U.S. goal.

The exclusion that Mann drew allowed Brian Alexander to score 22

seconds into the match, giving the U.S. a 1-0 lead, but Greece went

on to score eight straight goals to take a commanding lead.

Mann scored his first goal in the third quarter and added a second

in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to help the U.S. make up

ground.

The Four Nations tournament is a warm-up event for the 2003 Junior

World Championships, to be held Aug. 8-17 in Naples, Italy.

Newport Harbor High boys water polo Coach Jason Lynch is an

assistant coach with the junior men’s team.