Santiago, Jan 31 : Argentina defeated plucky hosts Chile by 5-0 in the final of the Pan Am Men Hockey Cup here on Sunday. The first two quarters remained goalless. Chile contained Argentina’s scoring machine for the first two quarters. However, the next two quarters produced the result. In the third quarter. In a flash, Argentina produced two goals in a span of one minute. Santiago Tarazona opened Argentina’s account with a field goal in the 33rd minute. Hardly had the cheers of the Argentinian supporters had died down, Maico Casella beat the Chile defence with a field goal to make it 2-0.
Encouraged by the home crowd, Chile went all out and earned a penalty corner in the 41st minute and Felipe Renez did not meet much resistance in converting the penalty corner to reduce the margin. From here, Argentina took full control of the game and kept the Chile defence busy. Argentina forced another penalty corner in the 53rd minute and Jose Tolini translated it into a goal as Argentina raced to a 3- lead. They added two more goals to swell their kitty Martin Ferreiro (56th) and Marco Casella (60th) contributed one goal each to seal the fate of Chile who had to remain satisfied with the runners-up position. Canada beat USA for bronze In the bronze medal match, down by a goal, Canada rallied to overpower USA by 3-1. USA players were first to score through Jack Heldens in the 17th minute.
The USA players kept this slander lead till 34th minute as Fin Boothroyd scored a field goal to help Canada restore parity. Mounting more pressure, Canada forced a penalty corner in the 41st minute and Gordon Johnston converted it into a goal to give Canada a 2-1 lead. Canada wrapped up the match with a 3-1 margin as Matthew Barnett scored a field goal in the 44th minute. Cards: Canada: Fin Boothroyd (Green, 27th), Brendan Guraliux (Green 51st), Devohn Noronha Yellow 60th ) USA: Kai KOkolakis (green 30th), Pat Harris (Green 40th), Adam Miller (green 45th), and Kei Kappler (yellow 55th) Final standing: 1 Argentina, 2 Chile, 3 Canada, 4 USA, 5 Uruguay, 6 Trinidad and Tobago and 7 Peru. Player of the Tournament: Matías Rey Argentina.
