After dropping their second match of the tournament, 6-3 to Spain, the Canadian Men’s Under-18 Team bounced back with a strong performance, beating Bangladesh 4-1, in the Hockey Fives tournament at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.
After splitting their first two games of the tournament, the Canadian knew their third match had added importance.
“Tonights match against Bangladesh was never going to be easy,” said Canada’s team manager Scott Sandison. “Seeing them improve in each match so far we knew they would be ready to take on Canada.”
The Canadians prepared well and it resulted in a steady performance on the field Tuesday morning.
The first goal came in the sixth minute as Brandon Pereira beat Bangladeshi keeper Sajibure Rahman to give Canada a 1-0 lead.
Chances kept coming for the Canadians, as they created more and more opportunities as the game wore on. But the game remained tight.
It was not until the third period when Amrit Sidhu was able to tally once again for Canada, giving them a two goal lead.
Shortly after Sidhu’s goal, Canada capitalized in the thirty-forth and thirty-fifth minutes on goals from Balraj Panesar and Braedn Muldoon and suddenly Canada had opened up a 4-0 lead.
Bangladesh was able to score in the last minute, breaking the shutout, but the Canadians take the match and improve to 2W-1L for the tournament.
“Overall it was a well rounded game with everyone contributing both in attack and defense,” adds Sandison. “We were sound defensively only giving up a goal in the very last minute.”
“Liam Manning played solid in goal, keeping the narrow lead that we had built in the first period.”
For a full match sheet click here.
Canada now has a day off before facing hockey powerhouse Australia on Thursday at 4:30pm in Nanjing, China (1:30am PST/4:30am EST).
For complete results and schedule click here.
