USA upset host Trinidad & Tobago on the last day of pool play at the Men's Pan American Junior Championship here in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago on Thursday. The US team defeated the host 3-1 and will meet Chile in Friday's semifinal. In the other semifinal, favorite Argentina will face Canada.
Barbados - Guyana : 8 - 1
The Ninth Edition of the Junior Pan Am Men's Hockey Tournament taking place in Trinidad and Tobago resumed on Day Five in overcast condition at the National Hockey Centre (NHC) here in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday morning, where Barbados beat Guyana 8-1 in a Caribbean derby to finished in a creditable fifth-position at the end of the Pool stage.
Inspirational Che Warner was the star in his side second victory of the tournament from a handful of outing, netting four, including a first period hat-trick . Deron Harper added another in the 29th minute before the end of the first session for Barbados , who finished in seventh- place at the last campaign held in Cuba , to hold the upper hand at 4-0 at the break as the rain that threatened during the contest took over the NHC.
It remained constant, causing the pitch at NHC to resemble that of a huge swimming pool during the lengthy break. This was the second occasion that there was an interruption for rain in the competition, following the USA and Puerto Rico affair on Day Four.
At the restart at about 1.50pm (T&T time), the long wait did not hindered the winners as they set their stall in the Guyanese half for the last 35 minutes. Warner netted his fourth and his ninth of the tournament to advance the lead to 5-0 after 38 minutes. That lead was quickly converted to 6-0 within nine minutes of the long-awaited half-session when Shonkeel notched the first of two strikes in the 42nd minute, before adding a second in the 64th minute.
In between the victors' dominance, captain Dario Jordon put his name on his team's scorecard with a conversation from a penalty corner set-play. Two minutes from time, the trying Guyana boys got a consolation item from penalty corner, which turned out to be their maiden goal of the campaign
The young and inexperienced boys from the 'Mud Land' concluded their campaign in Pool B without a point, while conceding 57 goals. This is the fourth appearances at the tournament for the Guyanese, with a fifth-place at the 1988 right here in Trinidad and Tobago as their best effort, to date.
Earlier, in the13th minute, medium-sized Warner broke opened the all-caribbean affair with a reversed flick shot from about eight metres in the 180-degree marking. Soon afterward and in the 14th, Errol Clarke missed a golden opportunity to extend the boys in their familiar yellow and blue kit to 2-0, but his weak effort from near rolled just wide of the opponent's right upright. Warner atoned for his teammate misfortune, when he rolled along the surface to knock the white ball over the line to double his country advantage.
The stocky Bajan completed his first 35 minutes duty with his eighth item of the tournament, when he crashed a right-side cut-back from an acute angle on the left-side of the 'D' past goalkeeper in a flash. Harper then provided Barbados , who won both ball possession and created in the first-half, with a fourth item in the 29th minute, just before the rain came to cause the delay. Six of the winners' goals came from the field
Mexico - Chile : 0 - 5
CHILE dominated Mexico to come away 5-0 winners to keep their chances alive for a qualification spot in the next round of the Ninth Junior Pan Am Men's Tournament at the National Hockey Centre in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday afternoon. The success for the Chilean put them on 12 points each with Mexico in the context of Pool B.But Chile will claim the top spot based on a plus 35 to Mexico's plus 20 goal differential.
The Mexicans will now hope for a miracle in the match between Brazil and Canada, who kept their ambitions of a place in the last four with a hard-played 2-1 triumph over Chile last Tuesday night. Canada will start their final game of the Pool phase with nine points and a 16 plus goal advantage. So a win for them over the Brazilian , who have won one game so far in the tournament from four outings, in the nerxt game on the day's fixture by six or more goals will send them through to the semi-finals, while Mexico will exit the tournament.
All three countries in Pool B are likely to finished with a dozen points each, with goal supremacy making the difference.
In Chile's timely victory over their South American rivals, who looked way below the standard of hockey they played to win their four games consecutively, Sven Richter was accurate on two attacks by the well-organized Chilean unit, resulting in field goals in the 29th and 69th minute as the winners took a 3-0 lead into intermission.
The other items in the opening 35 minutes of the 70-minute encounter for Chile came from a penalty stroke nicely tact away by skipper Andres Fuenzalida, 12 minutes after the flick-off, and Thomas Tegtmeier, who drained a penalty corner in the 28th.
Chile controlled the remainder of the first period and went on to do the same in the second and completed the job to see a golden opportunity of moving on in the tournament. Brazil will out of the Pool stage with one success from a handful outings.
Canada - Brazil : 7 - 0
The Canadians did what they needed to do in Pool B of the Ninth Junior Pan Am Men's Hockey Tournament taking place here in Trinidad and Tobago and that was to beat Brazil by five clear goals to advance to the last four ahead of Mexico, whose campaign went down hill following a heavy 5-0 defeat to Chile in a top-ofthe-table in the Pool.
So, it means that Canada finished second in the Pool over Mexico based on goal difference and will join Chile - winners of the Pool on goal difference as well - in the semi-final play-offs for a spot in the final on Sunday.
Mark Erickson and Keegan Pereira accumulated braces as the Canadians looked the more purposeful of the two sides out on the pitch and took the affair to less experience opponents, by spreading the ball across the park, while constructing their attacks. They started the scoring as early as the sixth minute when Connor Meakin put away a well-worked penalty corner. Erickson collected his first via the same means in the 14th to put his team closer to qualification for the round. Canada went to the break a confident bunch with a 2-0 cushion as they hunt the numbers item to overhaul the Mexicans.
On the restart, the lads in all white came back out with the same attitude and completed their assignment in fine fashion as they put five more past the Brazilian's custodian Rodrigo Faustino. Derrick Norton troubled the scorers with a penalty corner in the 39th minute. Jesse Watson added other in the 41st. Erickson counted his second with his country's fourth penalty corner in their vital win. Keegan then send the Canadians into the semis with his double in the 64th and 66th to the delight of his teammates and a handful of their supporters - complete with flags on the eastern side of the park.
Source: PAHF
