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Namibia lose to USA, Mexico
Posted 4th July 2008 at 03:17 PM by NamibiaSport
Namibia lost its third and fourth games at the Junior Inline Hockey World Championships to the USA and Mexico respectively. Namibia will now face the strong Czech team in the quarterfinals.
Gudrun Denker reports.
Namibia 1 Mexico 5
Team Namibia entered its fourth FIRS game as a tired and injury-plagued team. Kyle Weeks joined team captain, Arne Rodenwoldt, on the bench with a shoulder injury suffered in the USA game. Thus, Team Namibia could now only field two full lines in this important and final match-up of the round robin games for round one.
The stakes in this game were high, as the winner would advance to play the second seed from Pool B. In contrast, the loser could potentially fail to advance to the quarterfinals, or at a minimum, would be forced to play a very strong Czech Team who had gone undefeated in the Pool B round robin matches and had earned one of the two top seeds for the quarterfinal matches.
Mexico had lost games to Team USA (11-0) and Great Britain (9-3), but had played to a 5-5 draw against Switzerland. Thus, they desperately needed a win to advance to the quarterfinals.
Team Namibia started strongly with Vincent van Biljon scoring the first goal of the match on an assist from Rene Ruegheimer at the 17:23 mark of Period One. Team Namibia kept a solid defence until the 6:09 mark of Period One when Mexico tied the score at 1-1. Mexico then hit in its second goal a brief 15 seconds before Period One ended, giving Mexico a 2-1 lead at the half.
The second half commenced with a worn and tired Team Namibia holding Mexico scoreless until the 13-minute mark, when Mexico scored its third goal. The deep Mexico bench of 16 players eventually were too much for our worn-out lines, and the game concluded with Mexico winning the match 5-1.
Mexico earned the right to play second-seeded Canada from Pool B for its quarterfinal game. Team Namibia received the fourth seeded spot in Pool A, but are now forced to play a very strong and deep Czech team in the quarterfinals. The other quarterfinal match-ups see Team USA against Columbia and Great Britain against Germany.
Both New Zealand and Switzerland failed to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Games Three: Namibia 1 USA 6
Game Three pitted Namibia against one of the favourites, the hosting country’s National USA Team. Team Namibia, without its injured captain Arne Rodenwoldt, was excited to play what many believe will be the eventual World Junior champion team. A boisterous and loud American crowd made for a hostile environment, providing the USA team with a noticeable home court advantage.
Team Namibia started strongly, holding the USA players to no goals for the first six minutes of the game. However, the highly skilled American team hit quickly and efficiently scoring three rapid goals in a brief two-minute period, giving Team USA a 3:0 lead with 12:13 left in the first half. The American team scored a fourth goal, before Team Namibia’s Dominic Denker smacked in a tumbling puck past the goalkeeper’s glove for Namibia’s only goal of the match. The first period ended with Team USA holding a 6:1 advantage.
During the second period, Team Namibia played one of its strongest defensive efforts of the tournament, holding Team USA scoreless. The final score of 6:1 for Team USA reflected a solid performance from Team Namibia and one for which our team earned the respect of the American players and coaches, who commended Team Namibia for the hard-fought game and improved international competitiveness in such a short period of time.
Team Namibia selected goalie, Oliver Tors, as their most valuable player for this contest. Oliver was superb in defence and made repeated saves against highly skilled opponents throughout the match.
Gudrun Denker reports.
Namibia 1 Mexico 5
Team Namibia entered its fourth FIRS game as a tired and injury-plagued team. Kyle Weeks joined team captain, Arne Rodenwoldt, on the bench with a shoulder injury suffered in the USA game. Thus, Team Namibia could now only field two full lines in this important and final match-up of the round robin games for round one.
The stakes in this game were high, as the winner would advance to play the second seed from Pool B. In contrast, the loser could potentially fail to advance to the quarterfinals, or at a minimum, would be forced to play a very strong Czech Team who had gone undefeated in the Pool B round robin matches and had earned one of the two top seeds for the quarterfinal matches.
Mexico had lost games to Team USA (11-0) and Great Britain (9-3), but had played to a 5-5 draw against Switzerland. Thus, they desperately needed a win to advance to the quarterfinals.
Team Namibia started strongly with Vincent van Biljon scoring the first goal of the match on an assist from Rene Ruegheimer at the 17:23 mark of Period One. Team Namibia kept a solid defence until the 6:09 mark of Period One when Mexico tied the score at 1-1. Mexico then hit in its second goal a brief 15 seconds before Period One ended, giving Mexico a 2-1 lead at the half.
The second half commenced with a worn and tired Team Namibia holding Mexico scoreless until the 13-minute mark, when Mexico scored its third goal. The deep Mexico bench of 16 players eventually were too much for our worn-out lines, and the game concluded with Mexico winning the match 5-1.
Mexico earned the right to play second-seeded Canada from Pool B for its quarterfinal game. Team Namibia received the fourth seeded spot in Pool A, but are now forced to play a very strong and deep Czech team in the quarterfinals. The other quarterfinal match-ups see Team USA against Columbia and Great Britain against Germany.
Both New Zealand and Switzerland failed to qualify for the quarterfinals.
Games Three: Namibia 1 USA 6
Game Three pitted Namibia against one of the favourites, the hosting country’s National USA Team. Team Namibia, without its injured captain Arne Rodenwoldt, was excited to play what many believe will be the eventual World Junior champion team. A boisterous and loud American crowd made for a hostile environment, providing the USA team with a noticeable home court advantage.
Team Namibia started strongly, holding the USA players to no goals for the first six minutes of the game. However, the highly skilled American team hit quickly and efficiently scoring three rapid goals in a brief two-minute period, giving Team USA a 3:0 lead with 12:13 left in the first half. The American team scored a fourth goal, before Team Namibia’s Dominic Denker smacked in a tumbling puck past the goalkeeper’s glove for Namibia’s only goal of the match. The first period ended with Team USA holding a 6:1 advantage.
During the second period, Team Namibia played one of its strongest defensive efforts of the tournament, holding Team USA scoreless. The final score of 6:1 for Team USA reflected a solid performance from Team Namibia and one for which our team earned the respect of the American players and coaches, who commended Team Namibia for the hard-fought game and improved international competitiveness in such a short period of time.
Team Namibia selected goalie, Oliver Tors, as their most valuable player for this contest. Oliver was superb in defence and made repeated saves against highly skilled opponents throughout the match.
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