T&T's Teague Marcano ran a rampage over Paraguay, scoring seven goals in a 13-1 demolition of a game that only served as a warm-up for Saturday's Pan American Hockey Challenge final match-up against Peru at the Andres Avelino Caceres Sports Complex in Lima at 3.30 pm.
The winner Saturday will progress to the lone qualifying spot for the Pan American Cup in Montevideo, Uraguay in September 2025.
Friday, the "Calypso Stickmen" entered the match with an unblemished record, inclusive of a previous victory over their counterpart in the same tournament, 2-0.
Still, there was little to no resistance against the T&T men, who were led by the English-based Marcano and included the equally talented Jordan Vieira, Lyndell Byer and Tyrese Benjamin, among many others.
The game was less than a minute old when Shaquille Daniel charged into the Paraguay penalty area where his attempt to centre for Marcano came off the stick of a Paraguayan defensive player and into his own net for the 1-0 advantage.
Marcano did not have to wait long for his first goal, it came before the clock could have struck a minute, courtesy of a penalty corner that was teed up for him by Tyrese Benjamin. The same two players combined for the country's third goal which Marcano lashed home from a penalty corner, 3-0.
Paraguay, beaten in their first encounter by the "Calypso Stickmen", 13-0, were hapless in defence against the raging T&T attack. And just before the conclusion of the first session, Marcano completed his hat-trick by pouncing on a left-side centre.
Marcano added his beaver trick soon after the start of the second session from a penalty corner to take the score to 5-0, while the pair of Nicholas Grant and Jordan Vieira added more items to conclude the session 7-0, without the Paraguayans getting a chance at goal.
The demolition continued as each quarter was played. In the third quarter, T&T added three more goals, coming from Grant from the outfield, Marcano, who had now scored his fifth from a penalty corner, and Jovan Wren, getting into the action with his first on the day.
There seemed to be no stopping the T&T onslaught, as Tarell Singh fired in the team's seventh item from the field and Marcano appropriately hit the exclamation mark with his sixth and seventh goals coming in the eighth and 12th seconds of the final quarter.
Paraguay's lone item came from the stick of Mathias Samudio from a penalty corner.
Today's matches
Bronze medal playoff: Third vs Fourth, 1 pm
Gold medal playoff: First vs Second, 3.30 pm
