Goalkeeper Merrill Moses stopped 16 shots yesterday to carry the US men's water polo team to a 10-5 victory over Serbia in the Olympic water polo semi-finals.

The Americans continued their improbable run in Beijing and advanced to the gold medal game for the first time since 1988. They will play two-time defending gold medalist Hungary in the final tomorrow.

The Hungarians beat Montenegro 11-9 in the other semi-final.

The Americans came to Beijing ranked ninth in the world, and few gave them much of a chance of bringing home a medal. But behind Tony Azevedo's scoring and Moses' goaltending, the Americans upset world No. 1 Croatia to win their group and pulled another surprise against Serbia.

Hungary, the only country still unbeaten in the 12-team field, started slow against Montenegro, falling behind 6-3 in the second quarter.

But coach Denes Kemeny switched goalkeepers and it turned out to be the move of the game. Hungary outscored Montenegro 8-3 over the final 2 1/2 quarters.