Chile beats Paraguay with a shut-out to finish with zero goals against in the tournament; Vargas has game winner against Uruguay; and host Peru beat Ecuador on the last day of the Men’s South American Championship / Hockey World League Round 1. Chile will advance to the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 to be held in Tacarigua, Trinidad & Tobago from the 25th of March until the 2nd of April, 2017.
Awards:
Goalkeeper of the tournament: Lincoln PALACIOS of Ecuador, presented by Mr. David Ruiz, Member of the Organizing Committee for FIH Hockey World League Round 1, Chiclayo
Top scorer: Cristian VARGAS of Venezuela, presented by Mr. Gianni Delucchi, President of Peruvian Hockey Federation
Player of the tournament: Andy ADRIAN of Venezuela, presented by Mr. Leandro Negre, President of International Hockey Federation
Junior player of the tournament: Lincoln PALACIOS (GK) of Ecuador, presented by Mr. Leandro Negre, President of International Hockey Federation
Fair play of the tournament by PAHF: Ecuador, presented by Ms. Reyah Richardson, Tournament Director
Final standings:
1. CHILE
2. VENEZUELA
3. URUGUAY
4. PARAGUAY
5. PERU
6. ECUADOR
Please also check the Pan American Hockey Federation’s website for the Men’s competition for match and award photos and post-match interviews and more: http://www.panamhockey.org/en/competitions-53-2016-south-american-championships-men-
On the final day of the Men’s Competition, the first match-up was between Venezuela and Uruguay; then Chile and Paraguay played; and then host Peru met Ecuador for the final match of the tournament
Peru-Ecuador (10-0)
The Men’s competition ended with a match between host Peru and Ecuador. Peru immediately rushed into their attacking circle. With the strong play of Captain and keeper Lincoln Palacios, Ecuador played strong defense to prevent Peru from scoring until the 9th minute when Fabrizio Corno scored. Two minutes later, Peru’s Sebastian Dennison made the score Peru 2, Ecuador 0. Meanwhile, the home crowd was going crazy and a band kept playing loudly from the stands. Peru continued to dominate possession and keep play in their attacking half. After a lot of attacking pressure, Corno then broke through the tough Ecuador defense in the 30th minute to put his team ahead by three goals. A minute later, Dennison also scored again to make the score Peru 4, Ecuador 0. In the 33rd minute, Peru earned a penalty corner. Ecuador did a great job on defense to keep Peru from capitalizing off the penalty corner. Thus, the score at halftime remained Peru 4, Ecuador 0.
The second half started with Peru back on attack. Peru immediately earned a penalty corner that Sebastian Dennison converted with a hard flick to put his team ahead by five goals. The band kept playing loudly in the crowd. A minute later, Peru’s Miguel Rivera was able to come up with the ball on a penalty corner and push in a goal to make it Peru 6, Ecuador 0. Sebastian Dennison nearly had another goal 41st minute, but Palacios made a huge save to deny Dennison’s shot. Despite Palacios’ strong efforts, Peru’s Mauricio Del Valle did find the back of the net in the 43rd minute.
With 25 minutes remaining in the match, starting keeper Palacios was substituted for reserve Bryan Ormaza. Miguel Rivera then quickly scored on Ormaza to make the score Peru 8, Ecuador 0. Ecuador continued to play strongly and have good positioning to keep Peru from scoring another quick goal. Eventually, Peru made it back down into their attacking circle and Ormaza stopped two hard shots by Rivera. Ecuador was then able to regain possession and keep play in the midfield. Again, eventually, Peru was able to get the ball back into their attacking circle and Diego Talavera put in a tough shot just past Ormaza towards the goal post to make it a nine goal lead for his team. Ecuador with Ormaza then played strong defense to hold off two more penalty corners by Peru late in the second half. About ten minutes later, Talavera scored again to make it Peru 10, Ecuador 0. With the win, Peru finished in fifth place and Ecuador in sixth place, respectively.
Chile-Paraguay (5-0)
Chile ran onto attack to start the match against Paraguay, earning a penalty corner in the third minute of the match. Chile had trouble executing the penalty corner, but play remained near Chile’s attacking circle. In the 8th minute, Chile’s Ignacio Contardo hit in a hard reverse shot from the top of the circle to give his team the lead. Play remained in Chile’s attacking half. In the 13th minute, Paraguay had their first possession in their attacking circle when Paraguay’s Juan Benegas collected an aerial pass in front of goal. Chile’s keeper Adrian Henriquez made the save and regained possession as Chile ran back into their attacking circle. Two minutes later, Chile earned another penalty corner, but again could not get a shot off the penalty corner play.
For the next ten minutes play remained in the midfield. Then, in the 25th minute, Chile was awarded their third penalty corner. The penalty corner drag flick by Axel Richter found the back of the net, making the score Chile 2, Paraguay 0. Chile kept pressuring on attack, but Paraguay’s defenders, especially Enrique Gimenez did a good job of holding Chile without another scoring opportunity until the 31st minute when Chile earned two more penalty corners. Paraguay’s keeper Hugo Lopez blocked the penalty corner shots. Chile earned another penalty corner as time expired in the first half. Lopez saved the initial shot, another flick by Axel Richter, but Diego Ordoñez collected the rebound and scored to make it Chile 3, Paraguay at the break
The second half of the match started with Paraguay quickly on attack. Benegas took a hard shot, but reserve keeper Sebastian Valdes made the kick save. Chile then rushed with the ball into their attacking circle earning a penalty corner in the first minutes of the second half. Axel Richter put in another penalty corner drag flick to make the score Chile 4, Paraguay 0. Chile continued to dominate possession, but Paraguay did a good job of forcing the play into their attacking half. As a result, midway through the second half, Paraguay had much more possession near their attacking circle than they did in the first half. In the 62nd minute, Chile had a penalty corner that was one of their first scorning opportunities since the beginning of the half. Chile’s Juan Amoroso put in the penalty corner shot to put his team ahead by five goals. Behind Gimenez and Lopez, Paraguay continued to play extremely strong defense to prevent Chile from scoring again in the match despite very strong attacking pressure. Thus, the final score of the match remained Chile 5, Paraguay 0.
Venezuela-Uruguay (2-1)
Under the hot sun, the match between Venezuela and Uruguay started off very fast paced. A few minutes into the match, Venezuela had the first scoring opportunity. Cristian Vargas sent a cross in front of goal to Javier Ramos, but Uruguay’s keeper Sebastian Cadenasso came out to make the save. Uruguay’s Patricio Draper and Gabriel Lopez played strong defense to hold off more attacking pressure by Venezuela. In the tenth minute, Venezuela earned the first penalty corner of the match. Cadenasso saved the penalty corner flick by Venezuela’s Captain Andy Adrian to keep the match scoreless. Uruguay had their first shot on goal of the match in the 15th minute, but keeper Junior Benitez was able to kick the ball away; a minute later, Uruguay had another shot just barely miss the goal cage.
Both teams kept trading possession for much of the first half. Venezuela, however, was able to keep play mostly in their attacking half. The intensity of the match increased as the match progressed. In the 29th minute, Adrian was awarded a green card. Two minutes later, Uruguay was able to earn their firs penalty corner of the match, but Venezuela’s defense blocked up the play. Venezuela then regained possession and Vargas had a shot on goal go wide. Uruguay’s Gonzalo Martinoni played very strong center defense to quiet Venezuela on attack for the remaining few minutes of the first half. Thus, the match remained scoreless at halftime.
The second half started with Venezuela dominating possession and each team having a couple of scoring opportunities just miss the goal. Each time Uruguay regained possession to go on attack Venezuela’s Jose Oropeza and Simon Rojas played strong defense all over the field to prevent Uruguay from re-entering their attacking circle. In the 41st minute, Adrian scored the first goal of the match to give his team the lead. Following the goal by Venezuela, both teams continue to battle with intensity for possession and the pace of the match increased. In the 48th minute, Uruguay’s persistence to try to beat Venezuela to attack paid off as Uruguay’s Alexis Lopez sent a fast shot into goal to tie the match. Soon after, Vargas was back on attack with a good position in front of the goal for a shot, but Uruguay’s Cadenasso made a diving stick save to knock the ball from Vargas. Cadenasso then saved another shot by Vargas to keep the match tied.
In the 54th minute, Venezuela earned their penalty corner of the second half. Uruguay’s defense rushed out fast on the corner to prevent Venezuela from taking a penalty corner shot. Six minutes later Uruguay earned their first penalty corners of the second half. Due to Venezuela’s strong defense, Uruguay could not execute their penalty corners and Oropeza came up with possession for Venezuela. Soon after, Venezuela earned another penalty corner, but the push out went far outside the circle. Venezuela kept up their attacking pressure and Vargas blasted in a shot in the 69th minute to regain the lead for Venezuela. Uruguay had a good chance to tie the match in the final seconds, but the shot just missed the goal and went off the endline.
