After saving a draw against Nigeria in the first match of the 2025 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, the United States of America bounced back and made a big step towards a semi-finals berth, with a 42:26 win over the Republic of Moldova.

GROUP B
Republic of Moldova vs United States of America 26:42 (14:18)

The United States of America were coming off a disappointing draw against Nigeria, 31:31, therefore facing the Republic of Moldova was crucial for Robert Hedin’s side, especially as the European side won against Azerbaijan, making this match a must-win for the American team.

But the USA, which proved their attacking prowess in the previous match, scoring 20 goals in the first half against Nigeria, were somewhat lagging behind, failing from every position in attack in the first 10 minutes of the match, which enabled their opponents to control the match.

In fact, the American team went down, 4:1, after only six minutes and were still three goals down, 13:10, after 20 minutes, with Vladislav Caraman and Andian Morari combining for seven goals for the Republic of Moldova. But with America’s superior experience, the match quickly turned.

Ion Saharnean’s saves – eight in the first half – dried up, and USA’s attacking efficiency grew from 48% to 64% in the last ten minutes of the first half, as Andrew Donlin scored five times, while right wing Gary Phillips added six more goals, to enable USA go on a fantastic 7:0 unanswered run.

That opened a four-goal lead, 17:13, for the USA, kept until the break, with the Republic of Moldova scoring only one goal in the last 10 minutes of the first half, as their hopes of saving something from this match going up in flames.

It went from bad to worse for the Republic of Moldova, as the 7:0 unanswered run for the USA morphed into a 20:5 one, as the European side could only score four times in the first 17 minutes of the second half.

USA’s fast throw-offs and fast breaks were decisive in the match, as debutant Sigurdur Guarino scored seven times in the match, fellow line player Andrew Donlin added eight goals and Phillips finished the match with seven goals, while goalkeeper Pal Merkovszky, one of the members of the team which represented USA at the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship saved 10 shots for a 45% saving efficiency.

After another 4:0 run between the 47th and the 50th minutes, USA opened their largest lead of the match, 15 goals, 34:19, but a quick 3:0 run for Moldova balanced the match. It was not, enough, however, to prevent a double-digits loss, after their win in the first match, against Azerbaijan.

The 42:26 win was USA’s second-largest in history at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, with the record still intact from 2019, when they secured a clear 44:10 win over Malta.

USA will face Azerbaijan tomorrow, in a bid to claim the first place in the group, while Moldova are due to play against Nigeria, in what looks to be a do-or-die match for a place in the quest for a medal.

Player of the Match: Andrew Donlin (United States of America)