Magnolia repeated as women’s Open champions when the Paragon Hockey Club’s International Indoor Tournament came to an end on Sunday (September 14)at the Woodbrook Youth Centre in Port-of-Spain. However, the T&T Police Service got the better of their rival, the T&T Defence Force, for the Open men’s title.
Both were made to lift their respective crowns in completely contrasting fashions. The 2024 women's champions were taken all the way to a sudden-death penalty shoot-out by the host team, after their final match ended in a 2-2 stalemate at the end of regulation time. The defending champion opened up a 2-0 advantage at the halfway stage, when Brianna Govia fired them ahead in only the second minute, and Kaitlyn Olton (4th minute) doubled their efforts two minutes later.
They were well on course for a title after the resumption of the match, only for the heroics of Felicia King to spoil their plans. King reduced the scoreline by half when she found the net from a penalty corner in the 14th minute. And with the game nearing the end, King got their second item of the match in the 16th minute to knot up the scores at two apiece and send it to the penalty spot to be decided.
King got their third goal of the day from the spot kick, alongside Zene Henry and Alanna Lewis, but the Magnolia trio of Olton, Govia, and Shaniah De Freitas also scored from the spot to send the game into sudden death, where Magnolia prevailed 6-5 for a repeat of their crown.
Meanwhile, the men’s open final saw Jordan Reynos handing the Lawmen the lead in the fifth minute, only for Daniel Byer to knot up the score at one apiece as the teams entered the halfway break. When they returned, Akim Toussaint, the national standout, fired in the winner on the stroke of regulation time, 2-1 over the Defence Force.
Later, InSport completed a convincing overthrow of Queen’s Park Cricket Club (QPCC) for the Under-21 men’s title by hammering the Multilateral Alumni Team 3-1, while Magnolia also surrendered the U-21 women's crown by failing to make it to the final. But in a close contest between Paragon and the Saints, the Saints women prevailed by the slimmest of margins, 1-0. The lone goal came from the stick of Makayla Poole in the 14th minute.
The Saints also claimed the U-17 boys’ and girls’ crowns at the expense of GCC and Magnolia, respectively, winning both finals by 1-0 margins.
QPCC hockey team claimed the third-place title in the U-21 men’s division, while Paragon and Fatima also battled for the bronze medals on the final day of action at Hamilton Holder Street.
In the U-21 men’s play-off for third and fourth positions, the Parkites got the better of Saints 2-0. They made their intentions of a win known as early as the first minute of play when national player Nicholas Siu Butt fired them ahead 1-0 from the field. Thereafter, the teams attacked each other until the 12th minute, when Alexander Rowe sealed the win and the third position with his goal for a 2-0 triumph.
Only the day before, the Parkites were convincing 5-0 winners over Fatima in the men’s open division, where a better finish was expected.
In the U-17 girls' division, the host gave its fans something to cheer about by edging Ventures 1-0 for the third spot. The lone item came from the stick of Mikesha De Silva after just the seventh minute of the 10-minute affair.
In the boys' equivalent, Fatima prevailed 2-1 over In Sport from the penalty spot to lift the title.
Meanwhile, Ventures women clinched the third-place prize in the Open women’s division by beating the T&T Police Service women 2-0. After going down to a heavy 8-0 loss to defending champions Magnolia on the opening day, the result was a testament to the grit shown by the Ventures women throughout the tournament.
Yesenia Luces fired the Ventures women ahead with just six minutes gone on the clock with a field goal. Seven minutes later, Tristin Sayers sealed the win to ensure more silverware would be going into their cabinet.
Later, QPCC secured the third-place crown in the open men’s category by beating Malvern 2-1.
