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Round 20 of the Italian Serie A1 Water Polo Championship saw high drama at the top and decisive results elsewhere. AN Brescia won by a single goal in Naples to keep pace with Pro Recco at the top of the table. Meanwhile, championship holders Pro Recco and third-placed RN Savona won convincingly, while the mid-table contests featured a last-second thriller in Genoa and a stalemate in Palermo. The following is a review of all matches, including goal breakdowns by team.
Circolo Nautico Posillipo 11–12 AN Brescia. In a playoff-style match, second-placed Brescia held off a fierce push from Posillipo in Naples. The game was deadlocked 11-11 late in the fourth quarter when Matteo Gianazza scored a spectacular victory for Brescia in the final minute. Posillipo led 3-2 early on in front of his home fans at Piscina Scandone but couldn’t pull away. Brescia embarked on a 4-0 scoring run in the first and second periods to go up 6-3, but Posillipo rallied at halftime (5-6). The see-saw fight continued through three quarters, with Brescia leading 9-8. In the fourth, Brescia’s Max Irving momentarily put the visitors up by two goals, but Posillipo responded with two extra-man goals to tie the game at 11-11. Finally, Brescia’s experience paid off, as Gianazza’s last-minute goal secured all three points.
Posillipo: Brguljan (2), Mattiello (2), Radulovic (2), Cuccovillo (2), Milicic (2), Briganti (1)
Brescia: Del Basso (3), Ferrero (2), Irving (2), Faraglia (1), Balzarini (1), Gianazza (1), Dolce (1), Alesiani (1)
Pallanuoto Trieste 13–10 De Akker Team (Bologna). Fourth-placed Trieste secured an important home win over fifth-placed De Akker Bologna, widening the gap in the rankings. The hosts took a 6-0 lead early in the second session, with goals from Vuk Draskovic, Edoardo Manzi, and others. Goalkeeper Dejan Lazović’s saves stopped De Akker’s offensive. Bologna eventually got on the board right before halftime (6-2) and rallied in a high-scoring third quarter, cutting the lead to 8-5 and then 11-8. Trieste responded to every comeback attempt, including three goals from De Akker’s Luongo, and led 11-8 into the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth, Manzi and Draskovic both converted penalties to give Trieste a 13-8 lead, putting the game out of reach.
Trieste: Manzi (4), Draskovic (4), Podgornik (1), Petronio (1), Sedlmayer (1), Kujacic (1), Mladossich (1)
De Akker: Luongo (4), Bragantini (3), Abramson (1), Rouwenhorst (1), Gallo (1)
RN Savona 24 – 3 Nuoto Catania. Savona, ranked third, outscored the last-place team Catania in a goal-fest. Russian star Daniil Merkulov led the way with four goals, while four teammates – Jacopo Rocchi, Andrea Bruni, Giovanni Guidi, and Alessandro Gullotta – each scored hat-tricks. Savona pulled away following a 5-3 first quarter and shut out Catania for the entire second half.
Savona: Merkulov (4), Rocchi (3), Bruni (3), Guidi (3), Gullotta (3), Damonte (2), Erdelyi (2), Patchaliev (2), Cora (1)
Catania: Torrisi (1), Vukicevic (1), and Kacar (1)
Pro Recco 18 – 3 RN Florentia. Recco, undefeated, overcame Florentia, who were in 11th place, with a strong second half. Recco’s Francesco Di Fulvio scored five goals and was named the round’s top scorer. Recco led 6-2 at halftime and went on to score seven goals in the third quarter. Florentia’s resistance waned as Recco pitched a shutout in the final period.
Recco: Di Fulvio (5), Cannella (3), Demarchi (2), Younger (2), Fondelli (2), Durik (1), Iocchi Gratta (1), Larsen (1), and Haverkampf (1).
Florentia: Turchini (2) and C. Di Fulvio (1)
Roma Vis Nova 12-6 Onda Forte. Fifth-placed Roma Vis Nova reaffirmed local dominance in the Lazio derby, defeating 13th-placed Onda Forte for the second time in seven days. The Vis Nova “Leones” jumped off to an 8-2 halftime lead thanks to dominating defense and excellent extra-man conversion. Petar Smiljevic scored three goals, while Janjay Penava and Matteo Antonucci each had two. Onda Forte surged late but did not threaten the outcome.
Roma Vis Nova: Smiljevic (3), Penava (2), Antonucci (2), Ciotti (1), Poli (1), Agnolet (1), Viskovic (1), and Spione (1).
Onda Forte: P. Faraglia (3), M. Maffei (1), Sipos (1), and Barillà (1).
Iren Genova. Quinto 9 – 8 CC Ortigia 1928. Tenth place. Quinto achieved a “preziosissima vittoria” (precious victory) in a nail-biter against Ortigia, who finished ninth. In Genova’s “Marco Paganuzzi” pool, Luca Villa and Niccolò Figari led the home team to a 2-0 lead. Ortigia responded with goals from Giacomo Giribaldi and Simone La Rosa, tying the game 4-4 at halftime. Quinto opened up the game early in the third period with a sensational three-goal burst in 90 seconds, eventually extending the lead to 9-5 late in the quarter thanks to a lob from Stefano Nora and an extra-man strike by Alessandro Puccio. But Ortigia was not done; veteran center Christian Napolitano ignited a rally, and in the last quarter, the Sicilians converted two penalties (by Japanese star Yusuke Inaba and ex-Italian driver Valentino Campopiano) and added another goal from La Rosa, bringing the score back to 9-8. In the final seconds, Ortigia’s Greek shooter Alexandros Kalaitzis had a one-on-one opportunity to equalize, but Quinto’s goaltender Francesco Ghiara produced a remarkable point-blank stop to preserve the victory.
Quinto: Puccio (2), Villa (1), Figari (2), Panerai (1), Nora (1), Aicardi (1), N. Gambacciani (1)
Ortigia: La Rosa (3), Giribaldi (2), Inaba (1), Campopiano (1), and Napolitano (1).
Telimar Palermo 11-11 Training Academy Olympic Roma. In an entertaining 11-11 draw in Palermo, Telimar (ninth) and Olympic Roma (12th) shared the points. The host club (nicknamed the “Addaura Club”) led 8-5 at halftime and remained nine goals ahead early in the fourth quarter. But the visiting Romans (Olympic) staged a fourth-quarter comeback similar to Ortigia’s. Olympic overcame a 10-7 deficit in the last quarter, with Alfonso Pozo scoring for Telimar with 46 seconds remaining to save a point. Andrea Giliberti of Telimar was the star, scoring four goals, while Olympic’s output was more evenly dispersed.
Goals for Telimar: Giliberti (4), Alfonso Pozo (3), Marini (2), Lo Dico (1), and Pettonati (1).
Olympic Roma: Patti (2), Vitale (2), Lo Re (2), Mirarchi (2), Leporale (1), Vidovic (1), and De Robertis (1)
Round 20 outcome has important implications: Brescia and Recco are tied at the top (58 points apiece), Savona maintains third place (51 points), and Trieste remains fourth (37 points), slightly ahead of Roma Vis Nova on goal difference. On the other end, Quinto’s victory and Telimar’s draw shake up the race to avoid the relegation playoff zone. With two-thirds of the season completed, the competition for postseason slots and survival heats up as the Italian A1 league nears its conclusion.
