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USA Field Hockey Men to take on Trinidad and Tobago in Pan Am Preg
By Howard Thomas // U.S. Field Hockey Association // March 28, 2007
Colorado Springs, Colo. - Fresh off a best-of-three victory over Mexico in the Pan American Games qualifying series, the USA Field Hockey men's national team will continue its preparations for this summer's Pan Am Games with a four-game test series against Trinidad & Tobago, April 7-15 in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Both teams will compete in the Pan American Games, July 15-20 in Rio de Janeiro in the eight-team tournament that also includes Argentina, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Netherlands Antilles and host Brazil. The Pan American Games serve as the continental qualifier for the Olympic Games with the winner of the competition earning the continent’s automatic berth in Beijing in 2008.
The teams are scheduled for matches April 10, 11, 13 and 14.
Virtually deadlocked in the international rankings with Trinidad and Tobago tied at No. 23 with the USA ranked at No. 25, the series continues a regionally rivalry that includes a three-game, 1-1-1 split last July in Virginia Beach and a 3-2 USA victory in the 5th/6th place game of the 2003 Pan American Games. The USA leads the all-time series between the two teams with a 12-3-7 record.
Head coach Nick Conway's team for the series includes Pan American Games veterans Rhinku Bhamber (Simi Valley, Calif.), Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.) and Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.) and Shawn Hindy (Westlake Village, Calif.) from the 1999 and 2003 Pan Am Games as well as Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and goalkeepers Jason Wellings (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) from the 2003 Pan Am Team. Veteran Binh Hoang (Westlake Village, Calif.) was a member of the 2001 USA World Cup Qualifying Tournament team.
The roster also includes Pan Am Qualifier team members Nate Coolidge (Sandwich, Mass.), Remco Couwenbergh (Northridge, Calif.), Jed Cunningham (Moorpark, Calif.), Jonathon Ginolfi (Moorpark, Calif.), Mick Harner (Hanover, Pa.) and Sean Harris (Moorpark, Calif.). The series will mark the international debut for Amrit Ahluwalia (Irvine, Calif.).
Hoand and Ginolfi led the USA in scoring in the three-game Pan Am qualifying sederies against Mexico with three goals each as the USA defeated Mecico in teh best-of-three series, 2-0-1.
Following the series against Trinidad & Tobago, the U.S. men will compete in the National Championship tournament, May 2-6 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. The event serves as the selection trial for the 2007-08 USA National squad with the Pan American Game team selection announcement scheduled for June 1.
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