Team captain Akim Toussaint netted a beaver trick while England-based Teague Marcano, and Mickell Pierre added a hat trick each as T&T’s Calypso Stickmen blasted Paraguay 12-1 in their Men’s Group B decider at the inaugural Hockey5s Pan American Cups Tournament at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Turf, Kingston, Jamaica, on Tuesday.
Both teams entered their final round-robin clash in the four-team pool with a maximum of six points each, however, within the first four minutes, T&T was in full control of the contest thanks to Marcano’s goals inside the first minute, third and fourth for a 3-0 cushion to carry his personal tally to a tournament-high eight goals while Pierre made it 4-0 on the stroke of half-time in the 20-minutes match.
The second half was more of the same from the rampant Darren Cowie-coached T&T men with Toussaint scoring in the 11th and 12th minutes followed by a brace from Pierre in the 13th and 14th to complete his hat trick while pushing the lead to 8-0.
Junior Rodriguez then managed to pull a goal back for Paraguay beating goalkeeper Andrey Rocke from some distance, but it only seemed to spark T&T into life once again with Jordan Reynos (16th) and Nicholas Grant (17th) getting their names on the scoresheet before Toussaint completed his beaver trick with two further items, both in the 18th minute to complete the 12-1 drubbing and a maximum of nine points at the top of the table, and a quarterfinal date with Pool A cellar-placed team Panama on Friday from 4.15 pm.
In the other last-eight match-ups, Pool A winners USA meets Costa Rica, Paraguay clash with Puerto Rico, and Guatemala entertains host Jamaica as the teams continue their quest to finish among the top three to earn places at the FIH Hockey5s (five-a-side) Men’s 16-team World Cup in Muscat, Oman next January.
At the conclusion of the men’s quarterfinals, the winners of the semifinals will qualify for the final as well as earn tickets to Oman, along with the winners of the third-placed playoffs.
The men’s teams to qualify so far for the World Cup are Belgium, Holland, and Poland (Europe), and Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria (Africa) along with host Oman, while Oceania and Asia are yet to stage their qualifiers from which three nations each will qualify. On Wednesday is a rest day.
Olton earns draw for Calypso Stickwomen
Samantha Olton scored a second-half brace as the T&T “Calypso Stickwomen” battled back from a 0-2 deficit to earn a 2-2 draw with Brazil in their final Pool B round-robin match.
With the point earned, the Glen ‘Fido’ Francis-coached T&T women ended their four-team round-robin series with four points, and second on the table, ahead of the quarterfinals, five adrift of pool winners Uruguay who ended with a maximum of nine points while Brazil was third two points, and host Jamaica, in the fourth spot with one point.
Coming off an 8-1 loss to Uruguay, the T&T women were eager to get back to winning ways, but in the eighth minute, they found themselves trailing to a challenge goal (penalty-stroke shoot-out play from Paloma Simon.
A minute into the second half, Anna De Almeida doubled the score for the Brazilians as the South Americans looked on course to secure their first win of the competition to leapfrog T&T into the second spot.
However, it was not to be as former Saint Francis University player Olton first sliced the lead in half in the 16th minute, and two minutes later she got her second of the match to earn T&T a well-deserved share of the points.
With the Uruguayans expected to take full points against Jamaica last night, T&T will next face Pool A third-placed finishers Guatemala (2-2), who ended with six points from their four matches, eight behind the unbeaten USA (4-0) who finished with a maximum of 12 points while Paraguay was second in the five-team pool with a 3-1 record and nine points.
In the other quarterfinals on Thursday, the USA faces Jamaica, Paraguay meets Brazil, and Costa Rica tackles Uruguay for the semifinal places.
From the semifinals, the two winners will qualify for the final as well as earn tickets to Oman, along with the winners of the third-placed playoff.
The women’s teams to qualify so far for the World Cup include the African trio of Namibia, South Africa and Zambia along with host Oman while Oceania, Asia, and Europe are yet to determine their three qualifiers each as well.
Tuesday's results
Men
Pool B:
Guatemala 4 vs Costa Rica 0
T&T 12 vs Paraguay 1
Pool A:
USA 5 vs Panama 0
Women’s competition
Pool A:
USA 8 vs Panama 0
Paraguay 2 vs Guatemala 0
Pool B:
Brazil 2 vs T&T 2