USA Field Hockey News: USA Field Hockey Men Fall to Chile in Pan Am Games Opener

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Chile took advantage of a penalty stroke early in the second half and held on to defeat the USA Field Hockey men 2-1 in the Pan Am Games opener.

With the loss, the USA will need a win or tie in Wednesday’s match against Pool favorite Canada to keep alive any medal hopes.

“It’s extremely disappointing. It’s over now and we have to put it behind us and focus on the next game against Canada,” said USA coach Nick Conway. “Obviously it’s made it a lot more difficult for us but not impossible we just have to get the group back in shape as soon as possible and focus on getting points out of the next two games.

The USA jumped on top nine minutes into the game when Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) placed a lethal drag flick into the cage on the first of only two penalty corners of the game to give the team a 1-0 lead. The USA did not allow a penalty corner attempt by Chile.

Chile quickly answered back in the physical match and tied the game at 1-1 on Pablo Kuhlenthal’s field goal at the 18 minute mark

The two teams battled evenly throughout the first half and sent the game into halftime knotted at 1-1.

But early in the second half, a missed tackle in front of the goal cost the USA a penalty stroke and Ian Koppenberger deposited the stroke past U.S. keeper Jason Wellings (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) to give Chile a lead it would not relinquish.

“It was one of those plays where our guy came in from behind and you either make the tackle or you miss it and it’s a penalty stroke,” said Conway. “The umpire made the right decision and their guy put it away.”

The USA had one final opportunity to even the score with a penalty corner as time expired in the second half. But the initial pass was mishandled and the USA was not able to get a shot off as the Chilean players erupted in celebration.

The USA now must look ahead to a showdown with rival Canada and a game with Netherlands Antilles to close out pool play on Friday.

“Chile has always been a tough game for us,” said U.S. captain Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.) the game could have gone either way today, and unfortunately it fell on their side today. We’re looking forward to the next two games and getting back into position for the semifinals.”

Chile 2, USA 1
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 9:00)
CHI: Pablo Kuhenthal (FG, 18:00)
CHI: Ian Koppenberger (PS, 37:00)

USA Starters: Jon Ginolfi, Binh Hoang, Brian Schledorn, Pat Harris, Jarred Martin, Rinku Bhamber, Ian Scally, Pat Cota, Shawn Nakamura, Sean Harris, Jason Wellings (GK)

Name	Pos	Hometown	Date of Birth	Caps
Rinku Bhamber	Def	Simi Valley, Calif.	19 Feb 79	52
Nate Coolidge	Fwd	Sandwich, Mass.	6 Dec 83	11
Pat Cota	Def	Camarillo, Calif.	14 June 79	54
Remco Couwenbergh	Mid	Northridge, Calif.	27 Oct 86	11
Jed Cunningham	Fwd	Moorpark, Calif.	19 Jan 88	12
Jonathan Ginolfi	Mid	Simi Valley, Calif.	17 Aug 88	17
Mick Harner	Def	Hanover, Pa.	4 Aug 80	14
Pat Harris	Mid	Moorpark, Calif.	13 March 85	43
Sean Harris	Mid	Moorpark, Calif.	3 Oct 86	16
Binh Hoang	Fwd	Westlake Village, Calif.	10 May 74	25
Jarred Martin	Fwd	Saratoga Springs, N.Y.	2 May 82	49
Shawn Nakamura	Def	Camarillo, Calif.	1 June 78	53
Jeb Saez	GK	Thousand Oaks, Calif.	27 Jan 84	19
Ian Scally	Fwd	Thousand Oaks, Calif.	10 Jan 79	30
Brian Schledorn	Def	Thousand Oaks, Calif.	5 Nov 76	37
Jason Wellings	GK	Thousand Oaks, Calif.	26 Mar 75	26
High Performance Coach
Nick Conway
*Caps as of June 3, 2007