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USA Field Hockey News USA Field Hockey Men Pound Brazil, Place 7th at Pan Am Games
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The USA Field Hockey men’s team vented a tournament’s worth of scoring frustration out on the host team as the USA pounded Brazil 13-0 in the 7th/8th place game at the Pan American Games. Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) scored five goals and Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) added a pair of scores to lead a pack of eight different U.S. goal scorers in the game. Harris finished the tournament with a team-leading eight goals. “It’s certainly been a frustrating tournament for us,” said U.S. coach Nick Conway after his team dropped a pair of 2-1 matches and tied gold medal finalist Canada in pool play action. “You don’t like to beat up on teams, but we’re responsible for trying to play the best that we can. We were very, very flat and very disappointed going into the game, but credit our guys. They came out and played extremely good hockey.” The USA jumped out early on the home team with three goals in the first seven minutes. Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.) put the USA up at the onset of the game with a shot from the left of the circle in the third minute of play. Martin then added a pair of back-to-back goals – including a nifty weave through four Brazilian defenders before flipping the ball into the cage – for a quick 3-0 lead. The USA continued its assault when Remco Couwenbergh (Northridge, Calif.) slapped in a shot in the 14th minute before Harris connected on the first of his five goals with a penalty corner drag flick for a 5-0 lead midway through the first half. Harris was four of six on penalty corner shots against the hapless Brazilian defense. Jon Ginolfi (Simi Valley, Calif.) put his name into the scoring column after knocking in a penalty corner rebound before Harris closed out the first half with three goals four minutes for a 9-0 halftime lead. Binh Hoang (Westlake Village, Calif.) and Jed Cunningham (Moorpark, Calif.) score their first goals of the tournament in the 52nd and 53rd minutes before Harris added another penalty corner goal for a 12-0 lead. Sean Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) concluded the scoring with a penalty corner goal with four minutes left in the game. U.S. goalkeeper Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) spent a quiet morning in the cage as Brazil managed only three shots against the U.S. defense. Brazil did not attempt a penalty corner in the contest. “What we’ve
learned here is that we have to work harder,” said U.S. midfielder Ian
Scally (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) on completing his second Pan Am Games
tour. “We can’t just do this every four years, we have to work hard all of
the time. It’s going to take a big effort to get where we want to be.” The team’s unlucky 7th place finish was also its lowest placing in 10 Pan Am Games appearances as the team missed earning a spot in one of next year’s three Olympic qualifying tournaments. The U.S. needed a fifth place finish or better to earn a spot in a qualifier “We’re disappointed,” said Conway on the team’s final placement. “But we can still be very, very proud. We’ve played some fantastic hockey at this tournament and what we’ve done is shown people they can play.” www.usfieldhockey.com USA 13,
Brazil 0 USA Starters: Jon Ginolfi (Simi Valley, Calif.), Binh Hoang (Westlake Village, Calif.), Brian Schledorn (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Rinku Bhamber (Simi Valley, Calif.), Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.), Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.), Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Sean Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) Reserves: Mick Harner (Hanover, Pa.), Nate Coolidge (Sandwich, Mass.), Remoc Couwenbergh (Northridge, Calif.), Jed Cunningham (Moorpark, Calif.)
USA Field Hockey 2007 Pan American Games Team
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