Guyana’s Under-21 hockey team ended their Pool B competition with a spirited performance but eventually went down 0-5 to pre-Group favourites Canada in the Junior Pan American hockey championships yesterday at the National Hockey Centre in St. Michael, Barbados.
Returning from their buoyant 1-0 victory over Barbados in their second tournament fixture, Guyana kept the Canadians at bay for the entire first quarter with stout defending, at times frustrating the North American side. They were even awarded two penalty corners in the 8th and 14th minutes but failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunities. The trend continued deep into the second quarter before the Canadians converted with a penalty corner off the stick of Leighton De Souza almost on the stroke of half time.
The third quarter proved to be a defining period for the Canadians as three of their goals were scored in the space of five minutes.
Jude Nicholson scored a field goal in the 33rd minute and two minutes later Husdon Loh also converted another field goal in the 35th minute while Jyothswaroop Sidhu scored in the 38th minute.
The Guyanese regrouped and took the pressured their opponents but midway in the fourth quarter Brooklyn Aranha scored again for the Canadians to wrap up a 5-0 win to play unbeaten in Pool B ending on the maximum nine points while the United States finished second with six points, Guyana three and host Barbados failing to record a point.
Argentina lead Pool A with six points from two matches while Chile recorded 3 points from 2 games and Brazil in the cellar without scoring a point from their two fixtures.
Guyana women’s team fresh from their historic 3-0 win over Barbados will play their final Pool B match today against Chile at 12:00 hours hoping for further glory at their first Pan American tournament. Canada will oppose Chile while Argentina will face the United States of America in the semi-finals.
