T&T’s Calypso Stickmen had to settle for the silver medals after twice squandering the lead in a 2-2 draw with the USA before a 3-2 sudden-death penalty shoot-out defeat in the Pan American Hockey5s gold medal match at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus Turf, Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday night.
With both teams already assured of qualification to the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Oman, next January, the quest was now on for the Akim Toussaint-skippered ‘Calypso Stickmen’ and the USA to take home the gold medal.
The Darren Cowie-coached T&T men got off to a flyer with Mickell Pierre scoring inside the first minute with his tenth of the competition for a 1-0 lead before Tyler Sundeen replied for the Americans a minute before the end of the first ten-minute half.
Five minutes into the second half England-based Teague Marcano restored T&T’s lead at 2-1 with his tournament-high 17th item in six matches, but with three minutes left Michael Bormanski replied for the USA to tie up the score once again at 2-2.
Both teams then failed to find the winner in the remaining three minutes sending the contest to the penalty-stroke decider where Marcano and Jordan Reynos converted for T&T, with Jordan Vieira having his attempt, the team’s second, saved by goalkeeper Tristan Clemens while Ajai Dhadwal and Sundeen converted for the Americans, with T&T goalkeeper Andrey Rocke denying Bormanski to set up the sudden-death shoot-out.
And in the sudden death, Dhadwal scored for the USA, while Clemens denied Marcano to hand the North Americans victory.
Earlier on in the bronze medal match, host Jamaica made it two Caribbean teams on the plane to Oman after spanking Paraguay 5-2 where the trio will join the European trio of Belgium, Holland, Poland, and Africa’s Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria (Africa) as teams already assured of competing in the 16-nation event along with host Oman while the remaining six qualifiers will come from Oceania and Asia where three nations each will qualify.
When the tournament served off the ‘Calypso Stickmen’ defeated Costa Rica (5-1), Guatemala (10-1), and Paraguay (12-1) to finish top of their four-team Pool B round-robin series with a maximum of nine points,
In the other matches, Guatemala ended fifth by beating Puerto Rico 7-1 while Panama whipped Costa Rica 2-1.