US Field Hockey News
U.S.
Men Crush Dominican Republic, But Miss Pan Am Semifinals
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Koijan Kainth settles the
ball against the Dominican Republic. |
SANTO DOMINGO – The U.S. Field Hockey men’s
national team scored 23 goals against the the Dominican Republic in Wednesday’s final
match of Pan American Games pool play.
It wasn’t enough.
Needing to make up a 28-goal goal differential to advance to the
semifinals, the U.S. fell short of its target in spite of notching a 23-0 win and
recording the best scoring output in the team’s international games history.
“We were there,” said head coach Shiv Jagday after his
team almost pulled off the Herculean task. “I’m very proud of their effort. They
gave a solid team effort, and as a coaching staff, that’s all we can ask of them.
The win placed the USA into a tie with Chile in Pool A with each
team owning identical 1-1-1 records. But Chile’s superior point differential spread
of 24-19 served as the tie-breaker and sent Chile
to the semifinals against Pool A champion Canada. The U.S. will now play for the 5th-8th
spots beginning Saturday, Aug. 9 at the Parque del Este Hockey Stadium.
An early scoring drought put the U.S. into a hurry up situation
through most of the game. But after the U.S.
finally got on the scoreboard in the tenth minute on a Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs,
N.Y.) field goal, the team gradually built a 9-0 halftime lead.
In a sport and a tournament where every goal is often celebrated,
the U.S. team began an eerie ritual of scoring and then methodically returning the ball to
midfield without revelry or even a high-five.
Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) led the team with eight goals while
Shawn Hindy collected six and Martin added four.
With the Chilean team in the stands cheering each missed U.S.
opportunity, the U.S. team forced their South American rivals into a more desperate plea
in support of the Dominican defense as the U.S. frantically closed the goal differential
gap. Harris, Martin, Hindy and Daraspreet Kaith (Fullerton, Calif.) combined for six goals
in a 10-minute span to raise the U.S. hopes, but the team tallied just three more goals in
the final ten minutes to put an end to the U.S. semifinal dream.
“We had to come up big tonight and we were close,” said
Hindy. “Right now, we have to get together as a team and make sure we get fifth
place. We definitely deserved better than that, but right now we have to prove that we are
at least the fifth place(team).”
The U.S. men will face Barbados on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at
the Parque del Este Hockey Stadium.
USA 23, Dominican Republic 0
USA: Jarred Martin (FG, 10)
USA: Shawn Hindy (PC, 14)
USA: Pat Harris (FG, 16)
USA: Pat Cota (FG, 18)
USA: Shawn Hindy (FG, 22)
USA: Shawn Nakamura (PC, 24)
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 25)
USA: Jarred Martin (FG, 44)
USA: Shawn Nakamura (PC, 34)
USA: Jarred Martin (FG, 38)
USA: Shawn Hindy (FG, 39)
USA: Pat Harris (FG, 42)
USA: Shawn Hindy (FG, 44)
USA: Shawn Hindy (FG, 46)
USA: Jarred Martin (FG, 50)
USA: Daraspreet Kainth (FG, 52)
USA: Pat Harris (FG, 53)
USA: Daraspreet Kainth (FG, 55)
USA: Pat Harris (FG, 57)
USA: Shawn Hindy (FG, 49)
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 60)
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 61)
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 66)
United States
Starters:
Jang Badhesha, Pat Harris, Jarred Martin, Shawn Hindy, Rinky Bhamber, Ian Scally, Pat
Cota, Shawn Nakamura, Koijan Kainth, Jeb Saez (GK), David Schmoyer
Reserves: Daraspreet Kainth,
Gurpal Kundi, Daljeet Sagoo
Dominican Republic
Starters: Vincente Giron,
Felix Paulin, Angel Sosa, Edwin Meija, Elvin Guzman, Wellington Perez, Frankly Pereyra,
Leonardo Sepulveda, Harbide Ubiera (GK), Manuel Almonte, Danny Castillo
Reserves: Fidel Torribio
(GK), Juan Silverato, Ramon Rosa, Jose Acosta
Cards: USA: Shawn Hindy (G,
20); DOM: Elvin Guzman (G, 60)
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