Men to play for 7th place at Pan Am Games following 4-1 loss to Cuba
By Howard Thomas // U.S. Field Hockey Association // July 22, 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The USA Field Hockey men’s national team could not recover from an early two goal deficit in losing to Cuba, 4-1, in the crossover phase of the Pan American Games.
The loss drops the USA into the 7th/8th place game against host Brazil at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The loss also eliminates the USA from contending for a spot in one of next year’s three Olympic qualifying tournaments. The U.S. team needed to place in the top five to earn a qualifier berth.
“Against a dangerous counterattacking team like Cuba, if you fall behind, you make your job twice as hard,” said U.S. coach Nick Conway. “Unfortunately we fell behind two goals really early and then you end up chasing the game.”
The U.S. men began the chase virtually from the opening whistle when Yoandy Blanco connected on a penalty corner just four minutes into the game for a 1-0 Cuba advantage.
Cuba added to its lead six minutes later when Roberto Lemus knocked in a field goal for a 2-0 lead.
The goal prompted Conway to replace starting goalkeeper Jason Wellings (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) with Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), but Saez too was victimized in the final minutes of the first half when Roger Aguilera scored on a field goal to give Cuba a 3-0 halftime lead.
The USA quickly bounced back in the second half when Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) slammed in a shot from the middle of the circle to cut the lead to 3-1. The goal was the third of the tournament for Harris.
With the goal and the momentum, the USA created some additional scoring opportunities but was unable to draw any closer in the final 30 minutes of play. Herberto Sarduy Gomez clinched the game for Cuba off the counter attack with a diving shot past Saez for the game’s final score.
“I’m proud of the way the guys reacted in the second half,” said Conway. “We had every opportunity and when we got that early goal, you kind of got the feeling something special might happen but it just wasn’t to be.”
With its Olympic qualifier hopes ended, the U.S. team will look ahead to the immediate futures and a match with winless Brazil to salvage a seventh place finish.
“We have to take it on the chin and accept our responsibility,” said Conway. “We’ll stand tall and live to come back and most importantly, to continue to get better.”
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Cuba 4, USA 1
CUB: Yoandy Blanco Hernandez (PC, 4:00)
CUB: Roberto Lemus Dominguez (FG, 10:00)
CUB: Roger Aguilera (FG, 31:00)
USA: Pat Harris (FG, 40:00)
CUB: Herberto Sarduy Gomez (FG, 67:00)
USA Starters: Jon Ginolfi (Simi Valley, Calif.), Binh Hoang (Westlake Villag,e Calif.), Brian Schledorn (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.), Rinku Bhamber (Simi Valley, Calif.), Ian Scally (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.), Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.), Sean Harris (Moorpark, Calif.), Jason Wellings (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
Reserves: Mick Harner (Hanover, Pa.), Nate Coolidge (Sandwich, Mass.), Remco Couwenbergh (Northfield, Calif.), Jed Cunningham (Moorpark, Calif.), Jeb Saez (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
