Guyana’s men Under-21 squad suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the United States of America (USA) in their opening Pool B match of the Junior Pan American Hockey championships being played at the National Hockey Centre in St. Michael, Barbados yesterday.
The Guyanese were on the back foot from as early as the opening minute of play when the USA were awarded a penalty corner. The ensuring play was converted by Katz Wyatt. There was more pressure for the Guyana squad when Grewal Mehtab scored in the 16th minute to give the Americans a 2-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. The USA held the lead at half time.
The third quarter saw the Guyanese players looking a more composed as they started to have a little more midfield control but many of their passes went a begging.
They were eventually awarded a penalty corner during the third quarter but failed to score. Wyatt found the back of the net in the 49th minute to round off a solid performance from the Americans.
Guyana will be in action again today when they square off with Canada in their second Pool match at 11:00 hours before taking on hosts Barbados at 15:30 hours in their final Pool match.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s women’s team will be making their debut at 11:00 today when they clash with Canada in their taste of international competition at that level.
The Guyanese girls will play their second match against Barbados on tomorrow at 15:30 hours and will then meet in a showdown with Chile on Thursday in their final preliminary game in Pool B.
The championships organized by the Pan American Hockey Federation (PAHF) will serve as a qualifier for the FIH Under-21 World Cup from December 5-16 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
