Akim Toussaint scored a second-half double to lead T&T's "Calypso Stickmen" to a convincing 3-0 blanking of host Jamaica for top spot at the men's Second International Hockey Federation (FIH) World League First Round qualifying tournament in Kingston, Jamaica, on Sunday night.
Going into the virtual tournament decider, the Darren Cowie-led T&T squad sat atop the four-team round-robin with five points, the same as Jamaica, but with a better goal-difference.
After a 0-0 first-half, Toussaint put T&T ahead with a 45th minute field goal and 15 minutes later, teenager Tariq Marcano doubled the advantage to put the visitors within touching distance of the group honours and second round qualification. Toussaint sealed the issue in the 67th with his tournament high fourth goal.
The win was the third from as many matches for the Raphael Govia-coached 29th world ranked T&T men, and the second outright to end with eight points, three more than the Jamaicans who had defeated Dominican Republic 2-0 via penalty-shootout after a 2-2 draw as well.
When the tournament began, T&T battled past 62nd ranked Dominican Republic 2-0 on penalty-shoot-out after a 2-2 draw in regulation and followed up with a 3-1 defeat of 47th rated Barbados before beating the 64th ranked Jamaicans.
Barbados, which also won on a shootout over the Dominican Republic, 4-2 following their 1-1 deadlock on Sunday, still finished in cellar-spot with two points, one less than its opponent.
As tournament winners, T&T secured the lone spot available to the Second Round in Chula Vista, California, next year (February 28 - March 8).
It will be the second straight qualification to the second round for T&T after doing so in the inaugural World League competition in 2012.
Back then, T&T under the supervision of Glen "Fido" Francis topped its round one series at the National Hockey Centre, Tacarigua, after victories over Chile (2-1), Barbados (3-1) and Venezuela (9-2).
However, the Second Round qualifier in Rio de Janeiro proved much more challenging as T&T suffered losses against Argentina (9-2), South Africa (10-2) and Chile (0-4) but won against Brazil (6-2) and USA, 4-3 via a penalty shootout.
The Jamaica triumph also served as preparations for T&T's participation at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Veracruz, Mexico, next month in addition to making amends for a tenth placed Commonwealth Games finish in Glasgow, Scotland, two months ago.
Back then, the locals who were without a few key players ended in tenth spot after a 2-0 loss at the hands of Wales in their playoff.
Earlier in their round-robin group phase, T&T was also beaten by England (6-1), New Zealand (8-0) and Canada (3-1) before recording a first ever win at the Games, 4-2 over the higher ranked Malaysia.
On Saturday, the Patricia Wright-Alexis captained T&T women blanked Barbados 2-0 on first-half goals from Alanna Lewis and Oire Trotman for a fourth straight win and top spot in their qualifiers also in Jamaica.
The win followed victories over Puerto Rico (5-1), Dominican Republic (3-1) and host Jamaica (2-0) in their previous matches at the Mona Campus venue as the Anthony Marcano-coached T&T ended with maximum 12 points, three ahead of Dominican Republic which blasted Puerto Rico 10-1 in its final match on Sunday.
The Barbadians were third after a 2-1 win over Jamaica in Sunday's penultimate match.
Marcano and the local women will now prepare for the second round of qualifiers in Montevideo, Uruguay, from February 28 - March 8, next year, their second straight appearance in that stage of the tournament.
Playing on home soil in 2012, T&T finished with the bronze behind Canada and Uruguay.
This after the "Calypso Stickwomen" hammered Barbados (7-0), Guyana (5-0) and Venezuela (5-1) for a 3-2 record following losses to Canada (0-4) and runner-up Uruguay, 0-2.
In round two, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, T&T finished fifth in the six-team competition with a 1-4 record.
This after getting a lone win against the host, 3-1 while they were beaten by tournament winners USA (7-0), runner-up Chile (6-0), third placed Scotland (7-0) and Uruguay, 6-1.
Final standings
Women
Teams P W D L PSW PSL F A Pts
T&T 4 4 0 0 0 0 12 2 12
Dom Rep 4 3 0 1 0 0 16 4 9
Barbados 4 2 0 2 0 0 6 6 6
Puerto Rico 4 1 0 3 1 0 4 20 2
Jamaica 4 0 0 4 0 1 2 8 1
Men
Teams P W D L PSW PSL F A Pts
T&T 3 3 0 0 1 0 8 3 8
Jamaica 3 2 0 1 1 0 4 6 5
Dom Rep 3 0 0 3 0 3 5 5 3
Barbados 3 1 0 2 1 0 3 6 2
PSW: penalty-stroke shoot-out win
PSL: penalty-stroke shoot-out loss