Six teams from the Pan American region earned a place in the Hockey World League Round 2 after three tournaments concluded on Sunday. The USA men were the lone survivors from a three-team tournament in Chula Vista, California. Joining the Americans on the men’s side in Round 2 will be Trinidad & Tobago and Chile, which finished first and second, respectively in the tournament in Trinidad & Tobago. Rounding out the qualifiers are the three women’s teams of Canada, Uruguay and Trinidad & Tobago.
Chula Vista:
In California, the American men were clearly the team to beat as they cruised to two wins in two games with an incredible 24-0 goals advantage. Unranked Guatemala took the brunt of the #27 American’s wrath, falling 16-0, setting up a showdown between Mexico and the U.S. for the Round 2 berth. The showdown quickly fizzled as the Americans stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the first half and popped in another three goals to earn the Round 2 place with a convincing 8-0 win.
“We are really happy with how the team progressed this year and winning this tournament has been truly fantastic,” said Head Coach Chris Clements. “I am very happy with the team’s performance overall today and I thought we were efficient in the first twenty-five minutes to set the framework. The second half was slower, but at that point the match was under control so we tried a couple of new things that we have never done before. We begin preparing for World League Round 2 and will look to have some preparation test matches leading up to Rio.”
For complete information on World League Round 1 Chula Vista Men – click here
Port of Spain – Men
Host Trinidad & Tobago finished the Hockey World League Round 1 in grand style, winning the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record after a 3-1 win against Barbados. Trinidad came into the tournament as the second-highest ranked team at #34 in the FIH World Ranking, but thanks to a 2-1 win against top-ranked #25 Chile mid-tournament, Trinidad was able to improve its position and come out of the event on top.
After the 2-1 loss against Trinidad, the pressure was on Chile to deliver a win on the final day of action and they did just that, with a convincing 6-1 victory against Venezuela. The win was enough to secure second place in the tournament and earn the second spot to Round 2 from the Port of Spain event. Rounding out the standings was Barbados and Venezuela.
For complete information on World League Round 1 Port of Spain Men – click here
Port of Spain – Women
The Canadian women put on a show at the World Round 1 Tournament in Port of Spain, earning five shutouts in as many games and securing a berth in World League Round 2 after just three days of competition. But luckily for the rest of the field, three qualification spots were up for grabs at the tournament, making the race for the last two and thriller.
The shock of the tournament had to be the strong performance of 50th-ranked Uruguay, which came into Port of Spain as the fourth-seeded team. Uruguay set the tone early with an 8-0 win against Barbados and never looked back, earning four straight wins until they encountered the Canadians on the final day of play. Even that game could have gone either way, as Uruguay was the first opponent to hold the Canadians to a respectable score, falling by a slim 1-0 margin in the tournament-deciding game.
Earning the third berth for World League Round 2 was Trinidad & Tobago, which came as little surprise as they entered the tournament at home as the second-seeded team, ranked 27th in the FIH World Ranking. Trinidad finished with a 3-2 record, falling only against the top two finishers in the clear-cut tournament.
