US Field Hockey News

USA Field Hockey Men Shutout Venezuela at Pan Am Cup

	Shawn Nakamura blasts a corner shot past Venezuela's Enrique Figueroa in the USA's 8-0 win at the Pan Am Cup

LONDON, Ontario – Pat Harris (Moorpark, Calif.) scored three goals and Jarred Martin (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) added two goals to lift the U.S. field hockey men to an 8-0 win over Venezuela at the Pan American Cup.

    With the win, the USA raises its record to 3-0 while Venezuela drops to 0-3.

     The USA got off to a precarious start as Chile was awarded a penalty corner in the first 30 seconds of the game. The U.S. defense thwarted the early threat, but the USA offense would not get on the scoreboard until 13 minutes later.

    "It took us a little while to get going and we were struggling in the beginning. said Martin. "The hardest thing is to get that first goal Once we got that one we started to settle down. We got the next goal not too long after that and we started to play better. So it definitely helped."

   Martin gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead after taking a pass from Harris and then combined with Harris again on a dazzling passing combination to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.

   Harris took the scoring honors for the next two goals as he lofted a soft scoop over Venezuela defenders on a penalty corner to give the U.S. a 4-0 lead and capped off the first half with another penalty corner goal for a 4-0 halftime advantage.

   Daraspreet Kainth (Fullerton, Calif.) and Pat Cota (Camarillo, Calif.) extended the USA lead in the second half before Harris completed his hat trick on a penalty corner goal with 12 minutes remaining in the game. Shawn Nakamura (Camarillo, Calif.) converted a penalty stroke in the final minute for the game's final goal.

   In spite of the victory, U.S. head coach Shiv Jagday saw room for improvement before the USA takes on tournament favorite Argentina on Sunday.

   "We had a slow start and although we scored goals, the final touch was not there. It was missing," said USA coach Shiv Jagday. "The physical sharpness, mental sharpness and decision making was not there for us. We scored some goals and did the job but it was not one of our best games."

May 15 at London, Ontario
USA, Venezuela
USA: Jarred Martin (FG, 13:00)
USA: Jarred Martin (FG, 15:00)
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 18:00)
USA: Pat Harris (PC, 33:00)
USA: Daraspreet Kainth (FG, 46:00)
USA: Pat Cota (FG, 57:00)

USA: Pat Harris (PC, 58:00)

USA: Shawn Nakamura (PS, 70:00)

Halftime: USA 4, Venezuela 0

USA Starters: Jang Badhesha, Pat Harris, Jarred Martin, Shawn Hindy, Rinku Bhamber, Ian Scally, Pat Cota, Gurpal Kindy, Shawn Nakamura, Ramandeep Sandhu, Jason Wellings (GK)

Reserves: Danny Jordan, Nathan Coolidge, Daraspreet Kainth, Arjan Reyatt, Jeb Saez

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