Two days of the 2011 Pan Am Challenge are now complete at the Deodoro Hockey Complex in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. On the women’s side, host Brazil is sitting atop the standings with a three goal win over Bermuda and a 1-1 draw with Guyana. Brazil’s Tatiana NOROHONA MACHADO is tied for first place in the goal scorer standings from her two goals against Bermuda. NOROHONA MACHADO, however, received a red card for a dangerous stick and was suspended for Brazil’s match against Guyana.
In second place for the women in the 2011 Pan Am Challenge in Guyana with one win over Paraguay. After Paraguay got off to a quick start in the third minute off a field goal by Maria SERVIAN GIOSA, Guyana pulled off the win with two second half goals by Kerensa FERNANDES and Amanda GARNETT. In third place is Uruguay who in their first match (on Day 2) won big over Bermuda. Five different players scored for Uruguay and Uruguay’s Paula CARVALHO led her team in scoring with two goals. CARVALHO is tied with NOROHONA MACHODO in the goal scorer standings.
Despite strong defensive efforts, Paraguay and Bermuda sit at the bottom of the standings. Both teams are looking for their first 2011 Pan Am Challenge win.
On the men’s side of the 2011 Pan Am Challenge, there are only three participating teams, host Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Thus, the three teams are rotating to play each other throughout the tournament. In the first men’s match, Brazil had a six goal win over Paraguay; whereby, three goals came off penalty corners and Brazil’s Thiago DA VIEGA PACHECO had two goals. Paraguay, however, is playing strong despite only having fourteen players here in Brazil. On Day 2, the second men’s match was an intense hard fought battle between Uruguay and Brazil. Brazil’s keeper Daniel TATARA made multiple incredible saves to keep Uruguay off the scoreboard. While Uruguay’s defense also held strong to prevent Brazil from scoring. Thus, behind many loud fans from both countries (and the other participating teams) the match ended in a 0-0 draw. Because Paraguay and Uruguay have yet to score a goal in the 2011 Pan Am Challenge, the men’s goal scorer standings are all Brazilian players, with DA VIEGA PACHECO in first place.
The 2011 Pan Am Challenge continues this week with more Women’s and Men’s matches on Wednesday, Thursday; and Saturday and Sunday. Please continue to check the PAHF Pan American Hockey Federation for live score updates, game reports, pictures, and videos on the Men’s and Women’s Competition webpages, respectively. We are also posting live updates on Twitter (at PanAmHockey) and Facebook (PAHF Pan American Hockey Federation).
