Patricio Draper celebrates his 100th cap as Uruguay also celebrates a close win over Peru; Cristian Vargas’ four goals lead Venezuela over Paraguay; Chile’s Mathias Drummer and Jan Berczely also have four goals each to lead their team over Ecuador.
All matches are being live-streamed. Please continue to also check the Pan American Hockey Federation’s website for the Men’s competition for photos and post-match interviews and more: http://www.panamhockey.org/en/competitions-53-2016-south-american-championships-men-
The matches during the tournament will be in two 35 minute halves. The tournament format is unique in that it follows a Round Robin format that means that no match can end in a tie. In the case of a tie at the end of regulation, the match will go into a shoot out round; and then sudden-death shoot outs if the shoot out round is tied.
Uruguay-Peru (3-2)
For the final match on Day 1 of the Men’s competition, Uruguay played host Peru. Patricio Draper received his 100th cap for Uruguay. The first ten minutes of the match both teams traded possession. Peru had a few attacking opportunities through runs by Vincenzo De Martis and Steven Orellana, respectively, but could not get a shot off. Then Uruguay had the first penalty corner of the match, but also could not capitalize off one of their few attacking opportunities of the match thus far. Sixteen minutes into the match Uruguay had its first real shot on goal, but as the shot went just wide of the cage the match remained scoreless. Five minutes later, Peru’s persistence in their attacking half paid off as the team passing beat all the Uruguayan defense for Fabrizio Corno to put Peru ahead of Uruguay. Uruguay immediately countered as Alexis Lopez tied the match 1-1 off the restart.
In the 28th minute, Uruguay earned their second penalty corner of the match; and Draper scored off a drag flick to put his team ahead 2-1 over host Peru. With time winding down in the first half, fan s for both teams started cheering loudly in the stands. However, both teams were unable to get another shot off during the last five minutes of the first half. Thus, the score at halftime remained Uruguay 2, Peru 1.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Peru’s Hugo Visosa received a green card. In the 42nd minute, Uruguay earned the first penalty corner of the second half. Uruguay’s Captain Diego Laborde tipped in the penalty corner pass to put his team ahead by two goals over Peru. In the 46th minute, Peru earned its first penalty corner of the match. Peru completed the play as Peru’s Alberto Vives penalty corner goal put his team back within one. Five minutes later, after both teams fought for possession, Uruguay was back on attack with a penalty corner. Uruguay was unable to stop the penalty corner push out, but play continued near their attacking circle.
In the 54th minute, with the intensity of the match increasing, both Uruguay’s Gonzalo Martinoni and De Martis were given 10 minute yellow cards. A minute later, Uruguay was awarded a penalty corner, but again could not complete the penalty corner play to get a shot off. Captain and keeper Feliz Mafferetti then came up with a big save to prevent Uruguay from increasing their lead. Uruguay continued to apply strong attacking pressure, but Peru played very strong team defense to prevent Uruguay from scoring further. Thus, Uruguay came away with the narrow 3-2 win over host Peru.
Chile-Ecuador (24-0)
In just the first few minutes of the match, Chile took a quick three goal lead over Ecuador off two goals by Mathias Drummer, and one goal by Jan Berczely. Chile kept up their attacking pressure and Juan Amoroso made the score Chile 4, Ecuador 0 in the eighth minute. In the 13th minute, Chile earned the first penalty corner of the match and Axel Richter pushed in a fast shot to give his team a five goal lead. Vincente Goni then tipped in a goal past Ecuador keeper Lincoln Palacios to make the score Chile 6, Ecuador 0. And the Ricardo Achondo put in a shot to give Chile a seven goal lead only 16 minutes into the first half. Back-to- back goals by Martin Rodriguez and Berczely then made the score Chile 9, Ecuador 0.
About twenty minutes into the first half, Harold Soria had Ecuador’s first possession in their attacking half, but was unable to get the ball into Ecuador’s attacking circle. Behind Captain Wilson Torres, Ecuador continued to try to play strong on defense and held Chile from scoring again until Captain Sven Richter did so in the 22nd minute. A few minutes later, Drummer made the score Chile 11, Ecuador 0. For much of the first half Ecuador played clean defense such that it was only in the 28th minute that Chile for all its attacking pressure earned its second penalty corner of the match. Palacios was there for the initial save, but Berczely found the back of the net to put his team ahead by 12 goals. Palacios made multiple big saves, but then Drummer got another goal past Palacios to make it Chile 13, Ecuador 0 in the 30th minute. Then Richter scored again; and Rodriguez scored a beautiful high shot to make the score Chile 15, Ecuador 0 that remained the score at halftime.
Reserve keeper Adrian Henriquez started the second half for Chile. Chile continued to dominate possession and maintain their attacking pressure. In the 39th minute Chile earned its first penalty corner of the second half that Axel Richter converted. Then Chile’s Fernando Renz made the score Chile 17, Ecuador 0. Juan Espinoza played strong defense at center back, but Chile’s Jose Maldonado got past him for the score to make it Chile 18, Ecuador 0. Palacios also made more saves to prevent Chile from increasing their lead even further. Ecuador played strong defense to prevent Chile from scoring again for six minutes; and then Chile’s Rodriguez scored.
Again, Ecuador was able to hold off more Chile attack for minutes until Palacios came out to make a save. However, Berczely collected the rebound and made the score Chile 20, Ecuador 0 in the 54th minute. Three minutes later, Drummer converted a penalty corner; and then Amoroso converted another penalty corner. Behind more strong saves from Palacios, much to their credit Ecuador was able to break up six penalty corner plays for Chile. Chile, however, scored back-to-back goals in the 69th minute to make the final score Chile 24, Ecuador 0.
Venezuela-Paraguay (7-2)
The first Men’s match of the 2016 South American Championship and Hockey World League Round 1 was between Venezuela and Paraguay. After both teams spent the first few minutes trading possession without attacking opportunities Venezuela earned the first penalty corner of the match in the fourth minute. The penalty corner flick by Captain Andy Adrian went wide. Venezuela persisted on attack, but Paraguay’s Keeper and Captain Hugo Lopez came up with two big saves before Venezuela earned another penalty corner. This time Adrian’s flick went hard into goal to give Venezuela the lead in the 11th minute. About a minute later Paraguay countered on attack and earned their first penalty corner of the match, but the push out went far outside the circle and Venezuela quickly regained possession. After a scramble in front of net, Venezuela’s Cristian Vargas found the back of the net in the 15th minute to put his team ahead by two goals.
For the next seven minutes of the match, Paraguay was able to keep play in their attacking half due to a lot of hard work by midfielder Sasha Dolinzky and Ricardo Samudio on defense. Paraguay had a chance to get on the scoreboard in the 25th minute when play by Julio Russo forced a stroke. Russo converted the stroke to make the score Venezuela 2, Paraguay 1. Soon after attacking pressure by Venezuela’s Jose Oropeza forced a penalty corner for Venezuela. Adrian’s penalty corner flick was saved by Lopez. In the 30th minute, Paraguay’s Federico Ruetalo received a green card. Both teams traded possession in the final minutes of the half, but Paraguay earned a penalty corner as time expired in the first half. Venezuela’s keeper Junior Benitez came up with a big glove save to stop Santiago Chamorro’s flick to maintain Venezuela’s 2-1 lead over Paraguay at halftime.
The second half the match between Venezuela and Paraguay started with Venezuela’s Wilmer Vargas receiving a green card. Yet it was Venezuela who kept up the attacking pressure and forced play around their attacking circle for much of the beginning of the second half. Venezuela’s hard work paid off in the 41st minute with a penalty corner, the first of the second half. Lopez made the initial save on the penalty corner, but Venezuela’s Vargas recovered the rebound to put in a shot past Lopez who was still far outside the goal. A minute later, Venezuela’s Wilbur Bracamonte made the score Venezuela 4, Paraguay 1. Then in the 45th minute, Vargas completed a hat trick. And Venezuela again quickly countered off the restart as Wilmer Vargas made the score Venezuela 6, Paraguay 1. At which point, Paraguay substituted keeper Lopez with reserve keeper Roberto Fleitas. In the 49th minute, Fleitas came up with a big save during a penalty corner to stop another shot by Vargas. Two minutes later, Fleitas blocked another Vargas penalty corner shot. Despite strong attacking pressure from Venezuela for much of the second half, Paraguay did not let up. And Paraguay’s Russ made it Venezuela 6, Paraguay 2, scoring his second goal of the match off a break away in the 57th minute. In the 61st minute Venezuela earned another penalty corner, but Fleitas saved the flick by Adrian to keep Venezuela from increasing their lead. After Paraguay played incredibly strong team defense for the remaining ten minutes of the second half, Vargas scored his fourth goal of the match , making the score Venezuela 7, Paraguay 2 in the 70th minute. With Paraguay unable to capitalize off last minute attacking pressure the final score remained Venezuela 7, Paraguay 2.
The Men’s Competition will continue on the 3rd of October. Please continue to also check the Pan American Hockey Federation’s website for the Men’s competition for photos and post-match interviews and more: http://www.panamhockey.org/en/competitions-53-2016-south-american-championships-men-
