US Field Hockey News

U.S. Men Work Extra Time to Down Trinidad & Tobago for 5^th  Place at Pan Am Games

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Aug. 12) – Members of the U.S. Field Hockey men’s national team believed they deserved better than a 5^th place finish at the Pan American Games. It just took them a little longer to prove it.

The USA needed all 70 minutes of regulation time, 15 minutes of extra time, a 15-minute brown-out delay, and a brief officials conference at the end of extra time to top Trinidad & Tobago, 3-2, and earn the 5^th place spot at the tournament.

With the score tied at 2-2 after regulation play, Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.) slammed in a penalty corner after time had expired in extra-time to give the U.S. the victory. The play came after the U.S. missed on a penalty corner as the horn sounded the end of the extra period. However, a second penalty corner was called during the play, and the Rules of Hockey require the completion of the penalty corner before the period can end.

After a brief consultation with the technical officer, umpires Tomas Gantz and Chris Wilson brought the Trinidad & Tobago team back on the field to complete the corner and set up Nakamura’s golden goal heroics.

“The last corner that we took we had Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) swing around to the left side, and they read it,” said Nakamura after his winning goal set off a wild celebration on the field. “We had him do the same thing and their first wave bought it. The lane for the hit was wide open.”

“I have all praise for our lads,” said U.S. coach Shiv Jagday. “They played with their heart , they stuck to the game plan and they never gave up. I’m very proud of them.”

The U.S. opened midway through the first half when Koijan Kainth beat Trinidad & Tobago keeper Glenn Harris to give the U.S. a 1-0 halftime lead.

“My brother (Daraspreet ) passed me the ball and Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) took a defender with him,” said Kainth on his first goal of the tournament.  “That left me one-on-one with the goalie. I just played it to the corner. It’s a good feeling.”

.In the second half however Kwandwane Browne drag-flicked a penalty corner shot into the net to tie the game at 1-1 at the 45-minute mark.

The U.S. took a 2-1 lead late in the second half when Shawn Hindy (Westlake Village, Calif.) took a rebound off the pads of Francis and shoveled a pass to Harris who tapped in the ball for the go-ahead score.

But with time winding down, Browne added his second penalty corner goal to tie the game at 2-2 with three minutes left in regulation.

After a 15-minute delay to restart a bank of lights that had gone out at the Parque del Este Hockey Pavillion, U.S. keeper Jason Wellings (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) kept the U.S. hopes alive by knocking down two addition Browne penalty corner drag-flick attempts to set up the USA’s final penalty corners.

“It feels really good,” said Kainth on the team’s overtime work. “I don’t think anyone wanted it to go to strokes. The tournament ended on a good note and I think everyone is in high spirits now.”

USA 3, Trinidad & Tobago 2 (aet)

USA: Koijan Kainth (FG, 20:00)
TRI: Kwandwane Browne (PC, 45:00)
USA: Pat Harris  (FG, 61:00)
USA: Kwandwane Browne (PC, 67:00)
USA: Shawn Nakamura (PC, 85:00)

United States
Starters: Jang Badhesha, Pat Harris, Jarred Martin, Shawn Hindy, Rinku Bhamber, Ian Scally, Pat Cota, Shawn Nakamura, Daljeet Sagoo, Koijan Kainth, , Jason Wellings (GK)

Reserves: Daraspreet Kainth, David Schmoyer

Trinidad & Tobago

Starters: Glenn Francis (GK), Peter Edwards, Rigel Gomes, Brian Garcia, Kwandwane Browne, Nigel Providence, Atiba, Dillet Gilkes, Nicholas Wren, Kurt Noreiga, Bertrand Duncan

Reserves: Nicolas DaCosta, Darren Cowie

Cards: USA: Shawn Hindy (G), Koijan Kainth (Y,); TRI: Kwandwane Browne (Y, 83:00), Bertrand (Y, 35:00)

Umpires: Tomas Gantz (CHI), Chris Wilson (CAN)

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