Moses Keeps The U.S. Afloat

BEIJING, Aug. 22 -- The chants rang down Friday night at Yingdong Natatorium, where a band of Serbian fans seemed to far outnumber its opposite number. But those clad in red, white, and blue provided a pair of throaty calls. That of "U-S-A! U-S-A!" is to be expected for excellent performances by Americans at the Olympics. But the other one -- a sing-songy "Mer-rill! Mer-rill!" -- came because the man treading water at the edge of the goal for the U.S. water polo team is the biggest reason the squad will play for the gold medal Sunday.

"Merrill played out of his mind today," said U.S. center back Jeff Powers. "It was awesome to watch."

If a man charged with defensive responsibilities can take over a sport that relies on scoring to win, then Merrill Moses did that in a 10-5 victory over Serbia on Friday night. The 31-year-old Californian blocked 16 shots and shut out the powerful Serbs in the fourth quarter, when the game was decided. Because of all that -- not to mention three goals from captain Tony Azevedo -- the United States has clinched at least a silver medal, which would match its best finish ever. It could, however, one-up performances from 1984 and 1988 with a win over Hungary in Sunday's title game.

"Why not?" asked U.S. Coach Terry Schroeder, a player on the teams that won silver in Los Angeles and Seoul. "This team's been on an amazing run. . . . It's almost magical to watch them out there."

No one was more magical in the semifinals than Moses. Facing three six-on-five situations in the fourth quarter, which the United States entered holding a 7-5 lead, he made several deflections, so frustrating the Serbs that their captain, Vladimir Vujasinovic, angrily slapped the water after one scoring opportunity deflected wide.

"Goalkeeper is a position where you get hot, and you can get cold," Moses said. "I felt extremely hot."

It was not always so, even in this Olympic tournament. Entering the semifinals, the Americans had lost only once in five games, a 4-2 decision to Serbia in pool play. But more jarring to Moses and the team's defensive mind-set was actually a 12-11 victory over Italy. "I let shots in that I shouldn't have," Moses said.

So right then, he decided he would address the issue rather than swim away from it. Not only did he watch tape of himself and his opponents, studying tendencies of each, but he spoke to his teammates.

"I told them: 'That's never going to happen again,' " Moses said.

It hasn't thus far in this tournament. Moses has also exchanged e-mails with his former coach, Craig Wilson, the goalkeeper on the silver medal-winning teams from the 1980s. The message: "The ball's a beach ball." It must seem that large now. The Americans have given up four, five, seven and five goals in the four games since.

"You need a goalie to play well," Schroeder said. "You need a goalie to make blocks like Merrill did. If he's playing like that, we're going to be in every game."

There is, though, but one game left. Improbably, it is for the gold medal. American water polo has been through something of an upheaval over the past decade, churning through coaches, with some players saying the governing body had turned its back on them. This group vowed to change that. Azevedo and Ryan Bailey are in their third Olympics. Three other players are back for their second. Sixth- and seventh-place finishes from the last two Games were deemed unacceptable.

"Our whole motto for the past four years is getting back to the podium," said Rick Merlo, one of 10 players on the roster who has played in more than 100 international matches. "This has been our focus."

The first indication this was possible, players said, was a second-place finish at an elite World League tournament in June in Genoa, Italy. Then came a dramatic, 8-7 quarterfinal victory over Germany here. In between and since, confidence has grown.

"This is what we've been telling people we can do," said Powers, whose goal with 2 minutes 25 seconds remaining sealed the win. "It's great validation knowing we can play for an Olympic gold now and show everybody that the U.S.A is not a joke in water polo -- like a lot of people thought."

In the final moments of Friday's victory, Serbia fired one more shot, and Moses stopped it. As the action headed up to the other end of the pool, Moses raised his right hand to the sky, then turned to the crowd. There, he found his mother and father in the midst of the U.S. cheering section, surely two of the people belting out "Mer-rill! Mer-rill!" over and over again.