Field Hockey Canada > Update from Guadalajara

Update from Guadalajara

September 13, 2012 | Field Hockey Canada | fieldhockey.ca

After two solid shutouts on day one of the Pan American Junior Championships – Canada’s Junior National Teams each faced Team Uruguay in Guadalajara, Mexico. 

According to the PAHF, “The most thrilling match to date of the 2012 Junior Pan American Championship (Women) was the Pool A match between Canada and Uruguay.”  The women’s match on Tuesday was a hard-fought battle that had fans on the edge of their seats.  Uruguay opened scoring 20 minutes into the first half.  Maddie Secco (Victoria, BC) quickly responded with a field goal three minutes later to tie the game.  With a 1 – 1 score line at half time, both sides were eager to take the lead in the second half.  Uruguay captured the coveted lead off a penalty corner in the 46th minute.  After a nail-biting second half, the Canadian women earned a penalty corner in the last minute of play.  Secco once again delivered for Canada – scoring the last minute goal to equalize the final score to 2 – 2.  The draw puts Canada in second place of Pool A, behind the formidable Argentina.  Canada will face Argentina tomorrow at 5:45pm. 

On Wednesday, the Canadian men gained an early lead with Keegan Pereira’s goal in the third minute.  They maintained their lead throughout the match while holding strong defensively.   Goals by Brenden Bissett and Adam Froese combined with Matthew Sarmento’s hat-trick to give Canada a decisive 6 – 0 victory. 

“We moved the ball and stayed calm,” says Men’s Head Coach Mathias Ahrens.  “It was a great match, and we achieved the result we were looking for.”

The Junior Men will be looking for the same result tomorrow as they compete against Mexico for the top slot in Pool B.  Canada has already qualified for the second round of the Championship – but tomorrow will determine what pool they will compete in. 

“The match against Mexico will be interesting,” says Ahrens.  “Mexico will have home team advantage, but we are prepared to keep our momentum going.”

In June, Canada competed in a three match test series against Mexico’s Junior Team – scoring 17 goals to Mexico’s 1.  But there is a lot on the line for both sides tomorrow, and Mexico will no doubt come out fighting and energized by their home crowd.  

 


 

For live tournament coverage, follow @PanAmHockey on Twitter, visit the PAHF’s live blog at http://www.panamhockey.org/ or watch the live video feed atwww.justin.tv/codejalisco.   Show your support for Team Canada on Twitter @fieldhockeycan #JuniorPanAm or on Facebook:www.facebook.com/FHCanada