Adrian Weinberg made 16 saves during the game and stopped Vince Vigvári in the penalty shootout, helping the United States win against Hungary 11-8 on Sunday to earn the bronze medal in men’s water polo at the Paris Olympics.
This is the first medal for the U.S. men’s team since they lost to Hungary in the final of the 2008 Olympics. The U.S. also won bronze the last time Paris hosted the Summer Games in 1924.
Ben Hallock scored two goals for the U.S., which recovered after losing to Serbia in the semifinals.
“This is going to be the second-happiest day of my life, because I’m getting married in 20 days, so it’s a pretty good second,” U.S. attacker Alex Bowen said. “Maybe it’ll hold that until I have a kid. Busy summer.”
Gergo Zalanki and Denes Varga each scored two goals for Hungary, the most successful men’s water polo team ever.
Hungary also won bronze at the Tokyo Games.
“In Hungary, we have a strong legacy in water polo,” Varga said. “If we don’t win, there is a great disappointment.”
Hungary took an 8-6 lead with Daniel Angyal’s goal with 3:22 remaining. But the U.S. came back with goals by Bowen and Hannes Daube.
Daube, Max Irving, and Bowen made their shots in the penalty shootout, and Hungary failed to score in the tiebreaker. Varga’s shot hit the cage, but Vigvári was stopped by Weinberg. When Gergo Zalanki’s shot missed, it was over.
As the U.S. coaches and players celebrated loudly—both on the sidelines and in the pool—Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” played at Paris La Defense Arena. Coach Dejan Udovicic waved his arms to energize the U.S. fans in the crowd.
“It’s 11 years I was waiting for this,” said Udovicic, who started with the U.S. program in 2013.
