In the much anticipated tournament match up between Uruguay and Chile, Contardo’s penalty corner hat trick leads Chile to five-nill win over Uruguay ; Ecuador’s Harold Soria scores first tournament goal for Ecuador, but Ecuador fell to Paraguay as Russo has a hat trick. Venezuela wins by five goals over host Peru on Day 4 of the Men’s South American Championship / Hockey World League Round 1
All matches are being live-streamed; and a reminder that each match is being played in two 35 minute halves and cannot end in a tie. 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-
On the fourth day of the Men’s Competition, Uruguay and Chile met; Paraguay and Ecuador; and host Peru and Venezuela to end the day
Peru-Venezuela (1-6)
The final match on day 4 was between host Peru and Venezuela. Venezuela looked to attack early and earned the first penalty corner of the match in the third minute. Peru’s keeper and Captain Felix Mafferetti came up with the save. And then Peru looked to score as Peru’s Fabrizio Corno just missed connecting with teammate Steven Orellana waiting in front of the goal cage. Five minutes later, Venezuela was back on attack with two more penalty corner opportunities. Mafferetti and his teammates on defense blocked both penalty corners and again, Peru looked to push on attack. Yet, Venezuela quickly regained possession and Venezuela’s Jose Oropeza scored in the 11th minute to give his team the lead.
For the next ten minutes both teams traded possession mostly in the midfield and each failed to capitalize off a couple scoring opportunities. In the 22nd minute, Venezuela earned another penalty corner, but the shot went well wide of the goal cage. Two minutes later, Venezuela’s Wilmer Vargas was awarded a green card. Peru was unable to take advantage of the green card. For the rest of the half, Venezuela and Peru continued to battle each other for possession and both teams played strong defense to prevent shot opportunities. Thus, the score remained Peru 0, Venezuela, 1 at halftime.
Peru came out fired up to start the second half of the match and Vincenzo De Martis’ goal tied the match in the 37th minute. Venezuela then ran back on attack and earned two penalty corners, the second of which Reymer Malave converted. Venezuela continued to pressure on attack and Mafferetti made more big saves to keep Venezuela from increasing their lead. In the 48th minute, however, a penalty corner shot by Venezuela’s Captain Andy Adrian bounced off the pads of Mafferetti and into goal to make the score Peru 1, Venezuela 3. In the 54th minute, Venezuela earned another penalty corner and Raudin Simanca lifted in the shot to give his team a three goal lead over Peru. Peru then looked to score, but Venezuela’s keeper Junior Benitez saved a shot by Alberto Vives. Venezuela quickly regained possession and Oropeza converted a penalty corner for his second goal for Venezuela in the 58th minute. After Peru played with good positioning to keep Venezuela from penetrating their attacking circle for almost ten minutes, Venezuela’s Cristian Vargas dribbled through defense to make the score Peru 1, Venezuela 5 in the 64th minute. Behind Mafferetti and Peru’s back defender Ricardo Cruz, Peru played strong defense to hold off more Venezuela attack for the rest of the match. With Peru unable to get another shot off by the end of the match, the final score remained Peru 1, Venezuela 6.
Uruguay-Chile (0-5)
The crowd was packing and cheering for both teams in the much anticipated match up between Uruguay and Chile. Chile dominated and controlled possession in their attacking half for the first 15 minutes of the match. Uruguay, however, had very strong positioning that keep Chile from taking a shot and kept the match very fast paced. Uruguay had its first attacking opportunity in the 15th minute when Karim Issa took a shot. Chile’s keeper Adrian Henriquez made the save and the match remained scoreless. In the 20th minute, Chile’s Vincente Goni was given a green card. Uruguay had trouble taking advantage of the green card as Chile maintained possession. Chile earned the first penalty corners of the match around the 24th minute. After Uruguay’s keeper Sebastian Cadenasso stopped a hard penalty corner shot by Chile’s Juan Amoroso, Chile’s Ignacio Contardo collected the rebound and scored to give Chile the lead in the 25th minute.
Play continued to be in Chile’s attacking half; and Chile almost had another opportunity to score when Captain Sven Richter looked to take a shot. Uruguay’s Gonzalo Martinoni made a great defensive tackle to regain possession for his team. Chile, however, was able to quickly get the ball back into their attacking circle and earn another penalty corner in the final minutes of the first half. Uruguay continued to play strong defense, but Chile was able to earn another penalty corner as time expired in the first half. With a strong low drag flick, Contardo converted another penalty corner giving his team a two goal lead over Uruguay. Even though time had expired, when Richter’s goal was scored the intensity of the match then picked up and Contardo was given a 10 minute yellow card. Thus, the halftime score remained Uruguay 0, Chile 2.
The second half started with Contardo serving the yellow card; and Uruguay looking to capitalize on attack. Uruguay’s reserve keeper Rodrigo Castro started the second half. It was Chile’s Martin Rodriguez, however, who had the first scoring opportunity of the second half. In the 40th minute, Rodriguez blasted a reverse shot from the top of the circle to make the score Uruguay 0, Chile 3. Again, tensions ran high between the two teams after the goal was scored. And Uruguay’s Luis Salmini and Chile’s Axel Richter were each awarded a yellow card. After Chile had trouble executing a penalty corner play in the 45th minute, Chile’s Pablo Purcell sent in a hard drag flick off a penalty corner to give his team a four goal lead over Uruguay in the 49th minute. Five minutes later, Chile had two more penalty corners, but Uruguay’s reserve keeper Rodrigo Castro made a save on the second penalty corner. Right after, starting keeper Cadenasso re-entered the match for Uruguay; and reserve keeper Sebastian Valdes entered the match for Chile.
Play continued to be in Chile’s attacking half and Chile earned another penalty corner in the 61st minute. Contardo tipped in a third penalty corner shot to give Chile a commanding five goal lead over Uruguay. Uruguay kept holding good positioning denying Chile many shot opportunities. Chile, however, earned another penalty corner in the 68th minute, but the penalty corner flick by Axel Richter went high. Uruguay had their best scoring opportunity in the final minute, but lost the ball off the end line. Thus, the final score remained Uruguay 0, Chile 5.
Paraguay-Ecuador (9-1)
Under the cloudy skies of Chiclayo Peru, on day 4 of the men’s competition the first match was between Paraguay and Ecuador. Paraguay earned a series of penalty corners in the beginning of the match. Ecuador played strong defense to block up the penalty corners and Palacios then saved another penalty corner shot by Russo to keep the match scoreless ten minutes into the match. Paraguay kept dominating possession. In the 18th minute, Paraguay earned another penalty corner and this time Russo’s penalty corner shot found the back of the goal to give Paraguay the lead over Ecuador. Soon after, Paraguay’s Aram Monges blasted a shot on goal, but Palacios made another big save to keep the score Paraguay 1, Ecuador 0.
Ecuador continued to play strong team defense and blocked another penalty corner opportunity by Paraguay in the 23rd minute. Paraguay did not earn another penalty corner until the 30th minute. Palacios made more saves and another big save that enabled his team to regain possession and run into their attacking circle for the first time in the match. With the shot by Ecuador’s Harold Soria going off the end line in the final minute of the first half, the score at halftime remained Paraguay 1, Ecuador 0.
Paraguay ran immediately with the ball into their attacking circle to start the second half. Paraguay’s Aram Monges was able to score past Palacios in the 36th minute. A few minutes later, Paraguay earned their first penalty corner of the second half and Enrique Gimenez’s flick hit the backboard to make the score Paraguay 3, Ecuador 0 in the 39th minute. Ecuador did not let up and went on attack after the restart and earned their first penalty corner of the match. Ecuador’s Harold Soria scored off the penalty corner to pull his team within two goals of Paraguay in the 42nd minute. Paraguay then rushed back on attack and Federico Ruetalo increased his team’s lead back to three goals over Ecuador with a nice reverse shot in the 45th minute.
Ecuador’s Juan Usca then earned a yellow card; and soon after Paraguay looked to capitalize off another penalty corner that Ecuador successfully blocked. Ecuador continued to have strong defensive positioning to prevent Paraguay from scoring another goal while Usca was out with the yellow card. In the 53rd minute, Russo slammed in a shot to make the score Paraguay 5, Ecuador 1. Palacios then made two more big saves to keep Paraguay from quickly scoring another goal off the restart. Paraguay’s Elias Vera was able to break through Ecuador’s defense to put his team ahead by five goals in the 58th minute. A few minutes later, Paraguay’s Sasha Dolinsky tipped in a cross from Ruetalo. Paraguay continued their attacking intensity as Juan Benegas and Ruetalo each scored in the final five minutes of the match.
The final day of the Men’s Competition will be on Sunday the 9th 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; as well as awards on the final day of competition: http://www.panamhockey.org/en/competitions-53-2016-south-american-championships-men-
