The Guyana National Junior Men’s Hockey Team went down to Canada 8-0 in their final Pool B match on Monday at the Junior Pan American Championships in Toronto, Canada.
Having lost both their first two matches against Mexico and Chile, the bottom of the table clash was dominated by a Canadian side desperate to avoid playing Argentina in the quarter finals. The first three Canadian goals came from penalty corners and a defensive mistake led to a fourth, which caused the Guyanese to lose their composure.
Guyana had a better second half, with some Aroydy Branford breakaways leading to penalty corners and several close calls. However, Canada would add another four goals to seal the emphatic win and book their quarter final spot against pool A runners-up Trinidad & Tobago.
In his assessment of the match, head coach Robert Fernandes stated, “We did not play well today, we didn’t execute our game plan with the level of intensity that was required and we lost our composure when the goals started to go in. We need to learn from these experiences and build on them to be more competitive in the future.”
Guyana’s next match will be its toughest challenge to date, when they face perennial powerhouses Argentina in their quarterfinal on Wednesday at 10:00 hrs.
In other results from day three: Argentina defeated Puerto Rico 21-0, Trinidad & Tobago defeated USA 5-1 and Chile defeated Mexico 3-2. Local fans will be able to stream the matches live on the www.panamhockey.org website.
