3 months ago
14
Jamaica’s men’s hockey team is well placed to gain automatic qualification to the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games after a 2-0 win over Bermuda at the 2025 CAC qualifiers in Mexico on Wednesday.
Goals from Rashad McCarthy and Phillip Dawson, in the first and second quarters, respectively, were enough to give the Jamaicans the three points.
The win pushed Jamaica to nine points, three behind leaders Venezuela, who defeated hosts Mexico 3-1 yesterday.
Jamaica will take on hosts Mexico, who are third in the table on seven points, in their final game on Friday, and coach Duvaughn Henlon said they would have to be at their best to overcome a very attacking Mexican team.
“If the team comes out and executes well, we can beat them. We can beat any team on a given day once they come out and execute. The Mexican team is very skilful. They have been creating a lot of chances, but they haven’t been able to take most of their chances, but if we give them chances, eventually, they are going to take one.
“It’s for us to play a very solid and compact game. Take our chances when we get them and limit the opportunities we give to them,” Henlon said.
Jamaica have won three of their four matches, and the team is getting better every match, and produced a clinical display in their last game against Bermuda, Henlon said.
“The team has been building and growing throughout the competition. So we can definitely see they are improving and getting better. Bermuda have been very competitive throughout the tournament. They haven’t won any games, but they drew against Mexico. And they haven’t been conceding many goals.
“The games they have played were very close. They are a very defensive unit. They play very compact and try to catch you on a counterattack.
“But our team managed well, in terms of limiting their opportunities to counter. We possessed the ball and moved it pretty good.”
After scoring two straight victories, Henlon said the team is in a confident mood and fancy their chances of a top two finish and an automatic berth to the CAC Games.
“The team is in very high spirits. Coming back from the Venezuela game, we won back-to-back matches and dominated both games. It has been very good for them, and it has kept the squad happy, and we look forward to continue winning,” Henlon said.
Jamaica’s final group game against Mexico starts at 4 p.m. today.
English (US) ·