T&T’s senior women’s hockey team came up short in their bid to join the men’s team at the next January’s FIH Hockey5s (five-a-side) World Cup in Muscat, Oman after going under to Paraguay 2-0 in their must-win bronze medal match at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Turf, Kingston, Jamaica on Saturday.
Having failed at the first attempt to book a World Cup ticket following a 2-1 loss to USA in the semifinals on Thursday night, the ‘Calypso Stickwomen’ led by co-captains Krizia Layne-Alexander and Shaniah De Freitas needed to beat Paraguay, who was trashed in their semifinal by Uruguay 5-0.
Against Paraguay, T&T started brightly in the 20-minute contest, but against the run of play, Paraguay won a challenge (penalty stroke shoot-out) which was converted by Maria Catebra to take a surprise lead.
The local women found themselves further behind three minutes later when Bella Lopez unleashed a powerful reverse-stick shot which whisked past goalkeeper Talia Seale to hand the South Americans a 2-0 cushion at the half.
On the resumption, T&T was faced with an uphill task and came close to cutting the lead in half through USA-based Felicia King-Ashby, but her attempt cannoned off the right post.
It was the closest the Glen ‘Fido’ Francis-coached T&T women would come to scoring as the Paraguayans defended their lead until the final whistle to spark off wild celebrations while ending the ‘Calypso Stickwomen’ World Cup dreams.
In the final, the USA got the better of Uruguay 3-1 on penalties after both teams played out an enthralling 5-5 draw.
In the other early matches yesterday, Guatemala pipped Costa Rica 1-0 for the seventh spot while host Jamaica whipped Brazil 3-1 to secure the fifth position.
With the win, Paraguay joined Pan Am Cup finalists, USA and Uruguay as qualifiers to the 16-nation Women’s World Cup where they will join the African trio of Namibia, South Africa, and Zambia along with host Oman as qualifiers with Oceania, Asia, and Europe yet to determine their three qualifiers each as well.
During their round-robin Group B series, T&T edged Jamaica 2-1, but was then outclassed by Uruguay 8-1 before coming from 2-0 down to earn a 2-2 for the second spot ahead of their meeting with Guatemala who ended in the third spot in Pool A, after beating Panama 2-1, and Costa Rica 1-0 while tasting defeat versus Pool A winners’ USA, 8-0, and Paraguay 2-0.