T&T senior women’s hockey team scored with the final play of the match for the second straight match, this time to earn a battling 2-2 draw with Paraguay in their top-of-the-table match at the 2021 Pan American Challenge Cup on Tuesday.
Both teams went into the match on the back of opening day wins at the Villa Maria del Triunfo Pan American Complex, Lima on Sunday, with 60th ranked Paraguay beating 37th ranked Brazil 2-1 and the 57th ranked 'Calypso Stickwomen' eking out a 1-0 win over the 35th rated host Peru.
And after the end of the first two 15 minutes quarters of their clash, there was little to separate both teams with Shaniah De Freitas having T&T’s best attempt on goal, from a short corner in the 19th minute which was blocked out by goalkeeper Yanina Lopez.
With both teams tiring in the third period the game became stretched with the South Americans twice coming close to going ahead only to be denied first by T&T goalkeeper Aressia Sandy, and then by the retreating Avion Ashton with Sandy in 'no man's land'.
However, against the run of play, Brittney Hingh fired T&T ahead when she collected an in-bound pass from co-captain Teresa Lezama, turned on her marker inside the semi-circle and fired a diagonal shot from the right into the far corner for a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute.
That lead was short-lived though as Paraguay drew level through a cleverly worked penalty-corner which ended with Veronica Roa converting into an unguarded goal.
The T&T women were now hanging on for a point as they seemed wilted due to the humid conditions, but four minutes later, Paraguay took the lead when Astrid Duarte was first to react to a loose ball ahead of Shaniah De Freitas to poke the ball home.
The "Calypso Stickwomen" then threw numbers forward with the hope of finding an equalizer with Hingh and Gabrielle Thompson both wasting half-chances.
And with seconds left on the clock, De Freitas redeemed herself, when her long ball into the semi-circle was deflected in past Lopez by an alert Zene Henry to draw T&T level at 2-2.
With the drawn result, both Paraguay and T&T remained level on four points after two matches, with and the same goal-difference of plus-one.
However, Paraguay who meets Peru in their final round-robin match on Wednesday from 2 pm sits atop the four-team table due to more goals scored while T&T tackles Brazil at noon in Wednesday’s first match.
At the end of the round-robin phase of the competition, the top team will meet the fourth-placed team in one semifinal, while the second and third-placed teams meet in the other semifinals from which the winners will contest the tournament final as well as qualify for next year’s Women's Pan Am Cup from January 20- 30 which will serve as a World Cup qualifier.
In the other women's match on Tuesday, Marina Montes scored as early as the fourth minute to earn Peru a 1-0 win over Brazil.
Yesterday's Results
T&T 2 (Brittney Hingh 41st, Zene Henry 60th)
vs Paraguay 2 (Veronica Roa 45th, Astrid Duarte 54th)
Today's Matches
T&T vs Brazil, 12 noon
Peru vs Paraguay, 2 pm
Current standings
Teams*P*W*D*L*F*A*Pts
1. Paraguay*2*1*1*0*4*3*4
2. T&T*2*1*1*0*3*2*4
3. Peru*2*1*0*1*1*1*3
4. Brazil*2*0*0*2*1*3*0