For the Men’s side of the 2012 Junior Pan American Championship, the tournament started with a momentous match between Argentina and Guatemala, respectively. Guatemala was playing in its first international tournament and showed the drive, competitiveness, persistence, and heart to compete here in Guadalajara. Lead by Olympian Captain Gonzalo Peillat, Argentina took an early 2-0 lead off two penalty corner goals. Isidoro Ibarra also scored two penalty corner goals as Argentina had the 8-0 lead over Guatemala at halftime. Guatemala played with a valiant effort, but could not contain the experienced Argentina squad. Peillat, Joaquin Leonel Coelho, Lucas Martinez all finished with hat-tricks to contribute to Argentina’s dominating 24-0 win over Guatemala.
In second place currently in Pool A Trinidad & Tobago won over Caribbean rival Jamaica. Off Trinidad & Tobago’s first penalty corner in the opening minutes of the match, Andrew Vieira put Trinidad & Tobago ahead 1-0. Behind two goals by Nicholas Grant and one more goal by Vieira, Trinidad & Tobago had a commanding 5-0 lead over Jamaica at the break. Like the first half, Jamaica was persistent on defense and with trying to earn attacking opportunities. Thus, in the 49th minute Jamaica was awarded a penalty stroke and Captain Kemar Mitchell put Jamaica on the scoreboard. In an odd twist of fate, however, a penalty stroke was awarded to Trinidad & Tobago that Tariq Marcano converted to make the score 6-1. Trinidad & Tobago continued to dominate and came away with an 8-1 win over Jamaica.
Canada sits atop Pool B. against Puerto Rico, Canada came out strong on attack earning a number of penalty corners. In the 8th minute, Keegan Pereira put in a penalty stroke to give Canada an early lead. By halftime Keegan Pereira had a hat-trick and Puerto Rico unable to contain Canada’s attack was down by six goals. The second half of the Canada Puerto Rico match was no different. Matthew Sarmento and Gabriel Ho-Garcia each scored two goals for Canada. With Puerto Rico unable to generate any kind of attack, Canada won the match 12-nill.
Also with one win in Pool B, is host Mexico. In an exciting match against Uruguay, Mexico had a surprising two goal lead against Uruguay in the first 10 minutes of the match off goals by Andres Rangel Martinez and Jesus Silvestre Silva Olivarria, respectively. Mexico continued to dominate attack in the first half, but the Uruguay defense held strong to keep the score 2-0 in favor of Mexico at halftime. In the second half, it was Uruguay that came out firing on attack. Uruguay earned a series of penalty corners throughout the half, but could not convert. Off one of Mexico’s few penalty corners in the second half, Captain Guillermo Antonio Pedraza Saenz scored to make it a 3-0 score. With Uruguay unable to score, Mexico came away with a 4-nill win.
In the 2012 Junior Pan American Championship the Men are divided into three pools. Thus, atop Pool C are Chile and the United States. While Barbados had the early 1-0 lead over Chile off a goal by Justin Catlin in the 14th minute, Ignacio Contardo quickly tied the match. Right before the half, Jan Berczely gave Chile a 2-1 lead over Barbados. In the second half, Chile asserted its dominance and scored four more goals, including another by Berczely, to earn the 6-1 win over Barbados. United States beat Venezuela 5-1, with the United States scoring early off a penalty corner by Hans Kaeppeler. While the United States dominated possession, Venezuela played strong defense. In the 21st minute, Austin Groeneveld made it 2-0 for the United States that remained the score at halftime. Groeneveld scored another in the second half to give the United States a 4-0 lead. Venezuela did not let up and Yordano Castro scored off a penalty corner in the 66th minute to prevent a shutout. The final score was 5-1 in favor of the United States.
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