T&T’s men’s hockey team upped their defence to put on a much-improved performance in their final group stage match but fell to a 4-0 loss against Canada at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile on Sunday.
At the start of the first quarter in the opening match of the day at the Cesped Hockey Sports Centre, Canada was quick to put pressure on T&T’s defence but the local team resisted well. That was until Matthew Sarmento found the back of the net with a field goal in the seventh minute.
While the rest of the first quarter was scoreless, Canada threatened multiple times through Sean Michael Davis but a nice save from goalkeeper Andrey Rocke prevented the Canadians from scoring. Canada created another chance in quick time and was awarded the first penalty corner of the game but captain Gordon Johnston’s attempt was denied by the T&T keeper.
Floris Van Son and Oliver Scholfield’s field goal attempts in the 10th minute and then the 15th, respectively, failed to breach Rocke to have the Darren Cowie-coached T&T team trailing 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.
“I think the discipline was definitely a hundred times better and that did help us to stay in the game for, like, longer periods. We know that Canada is a very structured team so we have to be as disciplined as them and ensure that we maintain that structure,” said Cowie.
The Canadians came with the same intensity in the second quarter but Van Son’s effort was saved by goal-keeper Rocke and then Balraj Panesar’s attempt two minutes later was cleared away by the T&T defence. Shaquille Daniel got T&T’s lone chance in the quarter to level the score but it was kept out by Canada’s defence.
Thereafter, the Canadians had two decent tries from Davis in the 27th which missed the target, and Fin Boothroyd, whose 28th-minute shot was saved by Rocke.
However, just before the halftime whistle, the T&T custodian was finally breached in the 30th minute from a field goal by Davis.
After the change of ends, Canada again started on an attacking note, earning a penalty corner early on and captain Johnston converted to put his team up 3-0 in the 31st minute.
The Canadians did not let up and neither did Rocke, who soon after saved Brendan Guraliuk’s attempt, a minute later.
T&T again got a chance to pull one back in the 37th via a penalty corner but Shaquille Daniel’s shot was off target.
“A lot of it is basic. said Cowie on T&T’s offensive effort. “If we could improve our basics and again get more consistent playing time on water-based surfaces then we would be able to work on a lot of skills and basics in the game, cause we do move the ball well but then we get it in dangerous positions, it just doesn’t stick, it bounces off then we lose that whole momentum then we have to go the next way defending now.
“So it’s just to get those basics down and get that consistency and tempo in the basics.”
Canada thought it had its fourth goal in the 39th minute but T&T called for a review and was successful. Joel Daniel also got a chance to lessen T&T’s deficit in the 43rd minute but he missed. On the counterattack, the Canadians earned another penalty corner and secured their fourth goal when James Kirkpatrick’s attempt in the 44th minute took a wicked deflection and unfortunately beat Rocke in goal.
Rocke saved seven of the 11 shots overall—six of eight field goals and one of three penalty corners.
Though a better effort, the loss means T&T “Stickmen” finish at the bottom of group B, following defeats to USA (6-1) and Brazil (2-1) and will now compete in the classification playoffs, which starts Wednesday, along with Mexico and Peru, group A’s third and fourth-placed teams. The final group B clash between Brazil and the United States was scheduled to be played late yesterday.
The highest T&T can finish now is fifth.
“We have decent chances. Those are teams that we do know Mexico, Peru, and then Brazil more than likely depending on their game with USA, they will be involved in the crossover as well,” said Cowie.
“We definitely do need to kind of reset and think of this as another tournament. We don’t want to think of it as the tournament is over. That first group stage is gone now we go to the fifth to eighth place playoffs and now we recover and look at definitely take a lot of the positives that came out of this game and if we play that way and move the ball into dangerous areas and then play disciplined defence then a lot of good things will come in those next two games.”
Today, the women’s team, also winless to date, will compete in its final group against Argentina at 8.30 am (T&T time).
