Guyana men’s Under-21 team finished a creditable fifth place and the highest placing ever at the Junior Pan American Hockey championships following a hard fought 3-2 win over Brazil in the fifth place playoff yesterday at the National Hockey Centre in St. Michael, Barbados.
Guyana won following a penalty shootout after the two teams were tied 2-2 in goals at the end of regulation time.
Shaquon Favorite pushed Guyana into the lead in the 26th minute when he scored from a penalty corner during the second period but Brazil rebounded two minutes later following a strike by Lucas Varela.
Luiz Santoro then placed the Brazilians ahead in the 33rd minute from a penalty corner but one minute later Warren Williams equalized for Guyana and the score line remained 2-2 until the end of regulation time forcing the match into a penalty showdown.
Williams, Oshazay Savory and Samuel Woodroffe scored their penalty flicks for Guyana while Arthur Giro and Victor Godoy were the scorers for Brazil.
Guyana recorded two wins and two losses in the tournament beating Barbados and Brazil but went down to the United States and Chile in the preliminary competition.
Chile defeated the United States of America (USA) 4-1 in the first semi-finals to advance to the final while the Americans have secured the fourth position.
Head Coach Robert Fernandes said he was very pleased with the result in an interview with Stabroek Sport.
According to Fernandes it was an impressive showing by the team and the players displayed improvement in every game during the tournament.
“If these players were exposed to playing more on artificial surfaces we could have placed higher in the tournament. We saw the improvement in every match and it is important for Guyana to secure an artificial turf very soon to help in the development of the game,” he added.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s women will also compete in the fifth place playoff when they oppose Uruguay at 09:45 hours today.
They will be looking to end the tournament on a high in their first outing at the Junior Pan American championships. The Guyanese won a famous 3-0 win over Barbados in their second match of the competition.
