Team USA snaps New Zealand's winning streak in America's Cup Race 4

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Defending champion Oracle Team USA won its first America's Cup race against New Zealand Sunday after dropping the first three contests.

Team USA bested New Zealand in dramatic fashion by 8 seconds after dropping Sunday's first race to go down 0-3 against Emirates Team New Zealand.

The clutch victory gave the Americans hope they could retain the trophy in the best-of-17 regatta.

Team USA had a 6-second lead at the first mark of Race 4 and a 16-second advantage at third mark, but New Zealand narrowed the gap to 5 seconds by the fourth, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

But the Americans lengthened their lead down the stretch.

The official score remained 3-0 for New Zealand because the Americans were penalized two races over cheating allegations at last year's America's Cup World Series.