(Sports Correspondent: Imran Sohail)
Team Canada gets pool play retribution and secures Bronze Medal in Montevideo
In pool play, seven days ago, Chile was the team that broke through with a goal in the 7th minute and controlled the play with the lead. Today, it was Canada’s turn. A nice bit of ball handling by Robin Thind yielded an open net for Sean Davis, who corralled the ball and smashed it dead centre. Canada took the lead in the 8th minute and immediately the game felt different.
From that moment, the game settled into a rhythm with a nice back and forth pace as both teams traded chances through the rest of the first half and third quarter. The game shot into hyperdrive in the fourth quarter as Team Canada’s captain Matt Sarmento banged a rebound with a little snap-shot off a Robin Thind circle drive. Notably, Robin Thind was in on both Canadian goals, setting up Davis and providing the initial shot on the Sarmento goal.
With Canada taking doubling the lead in the fourth quarter, Chile’s attack intensified. They answered back in the 54th minute as Juan Amoroso ripped a backhand top corner off a PC rebound. For a Canadian hockey fan, the final 6 minutes took an eternity. Chile pulled their keeper and gave one final push, but the Canadian defending was too strong down the stretch. Canada’s keeper, Ethan McTavish made some crucial penalty corner stops during this match. For the final 3 minutes, Canada brought all 10 field players back to shore up the victory. It was a complete team effort from all parties in this one. Although Canada was hoping to be in the finals this afternoon, the bronze medal represents a shining response to their pool-play loss to this Chilean side and a great note to end the tournament on.
One another congratulatory note, Tsawwassen, BC’s Brendan Guraliuk played in his 50th senior international cap in today’s match. Guraliuk made his debut in 2018 and has represented Canada at the Pan Am Games, Olympic Games and Commonwealth games in his 50-match career. He played superbly all tournament as the main runner on defensive PCs and a force through the midfield.
Brendan Guraliuk plays in his 50th senior international match today vs Chile at the Pan American Cup.
With the Pan American Cup wrapped up, Canada’s men’s team turns its focus toward the next step in World Cup qualification, the Olympic Qualifiers, which will be in February 2026. This week’s tournament delivered both highs and lows, but more importantly, it marked progress. On both the men’s and women’s side, these young squad gained important international experience and achieved the goal of advancing in the qualification pathway.
