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Men's Pan American Cup 2004

By Yan Huckendubler, PAHF Media Officer


The 2nd Men’s Pan American Cup opened today in a bright spring day at University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.

Argentina and Venezuela were the first in action, and the Argentineans didn’t waste any time, scoring in the second minute of play by Juan Garreta, who only needed to gently tap the ball into goal after a quick series of passes in the D.

Argentina consistently displayed that they are in fine form on their way to Athens. They had little problem maintaining complete control of the game, with Venezuela struggling to defend against their quick passes and combinations. Venezuelan goalkeeper Luis Enrique saved a penalty stroke but couldn’t prevent Argentina to reach halt-time with a commending 6-0 lead.

Six of the Argentinean players only arrived in London late Tuesday, after playing for their European clubs on Sunday, but that didn’t seem to affect their pace and Argentina cruised to an easy 16-0 victory, with Jorge Lombi scoring 10 goals (a personal best as far as he can recall!) and putting an early claim on the competition Top Goal Scorer Trophy.

Chile and Puerto Rico took to the field next. Chilean Captain Felipe Montegu was the first on the score sheet with a decisive shot in the roof of the net after… only 40 seconds of play. Puerto Rico has a young team and they were not able to contain the experienced Chilean team in the early stages of the game. Chile was quickly up 4-0 (18’) but Puerto Rico’s aggressive defense managed to frustrate Chile and no more goals were scored before halftime.

However, with the sun getting hotter, Puerto Rico was not able to sustain their physical play in the second half and Chile progressively regained total control of the game, scoring a handful of goals in the last quarter to round-up the score at 10-0, with Felipe Monegu scoring 4.

The USA vs. Brazil game was played at noon under hot sun that affected the tempo of the game. The Brazilians displayed a good defensive organization and consistently managed to intercept the Americans passes. It is only in the 17th minute that Ian Scally scored the first goal after a goal mouth scramble. The Americans went on to score two quick goals to push the score to 3-0 but the Brazilians didn’t let down and, displaying good individual skills, mounted some quick counter-attacks to carry the danger in the American camp. They were rewarded with a penalty-stroke that allowed them to briefly reduce the score at 3-1.

The second half was mostly controlled by the Americans but they wasted opportunities on the way to scoring 6 more goals, with Shawn Nakamura netting 4 (2 penalty corners and 2 penalty strokes). Brazil had a good push in the last minutes and benefited from 2 penalty corners on the buzzer, but they couldn’t convert them. Final score: 10-1.

After a colorful Opening Ceremony, where the local Native Indians welcomed the participants in their traditional custom, Canada took to the field against Trinidad & Tobago. The Canadian players wore black armbands embroidered with “RR”, in memory of double Olympian (1984 and 1988) Ross Rutledge, who passed away a few weeks ago.

The game was balanced and eventful, with Trinidad & Tobago well structured around Kwandwane Browne and Canada defending patiently and mostly dangerous on counter-attacks. They managed to build some dangerous opportunities but consistently missed the finishing touched and it is only in the 22nd minute that Rob Short scored on a generous penalty stroke. The second Canadian goal was more spectacular, with Rob Short penetrating in the circle and flipping the ball over the falling goal keeper for Connor Grimes who just needed to bat the ball in.

As in all other games today, the tempo slowed down in the second half. Canada scored a lucky goal but could not be dangerous on penalty corners while Trinidad obliged Canadian goal keeper Mike Mahood to make some tough saves, with Brian Garcia displaying his talent on a couple of swift rushes through the whole Canadian defense. Trinidad pushed Canada on its heels in last 5 minutes, but the score stayed at 3-0.

The Cuban team has not reached London yet, delayed with visa problems, so their game against Uruguay has been postponed until Wednesday May 19 at 20:00.

The last game of the day opposed Mexico to the Netherlands Antilles in a cooler temperature. Mexico had the early pressure and nearly scored a goal on a penalty corner, but the Dutch Antilles players settled down and progressively took control of the game. True to their Dutch upbringing, most of them have an excellent individual technique and the team plays as a well structured unit smartly occupying the field.

Both teams had good chances but halftime was reached without score. Netherlands Antilles scored early in the second half on a well executed drag flick. This seemed to boost their confidence and their pressure on the Mexican defense increased a notch. They quickly earned another penalty corner that was also converted with a drag flick in the best Dutch tradition!

The Mexican players tried desperately to generate some danger to get on the scoreboard, but the Dutch Antilles defense, although starting to fade physically, managed to hold tight for a well earned 2-0 victory.


Schedule for Thursday May 13
8:00 A Venezuela v. Chile
10:00 A Puerto Rico v. USA
12:00 A Brazil v. Argentina
16:00 B Trinidad & Tobago v. Cuba (?)
18:00 B Uruguay v. Mexico
20:00 A Netherlands Antilles v. Canada


For more information, please visit the Pan American Hockey Federation web site: http://www.panamhockey.org/

Para mas informacion por favor visiten la pagina web de la Federacion Panamericana de Hockey: http://www.panamhockey.org/

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