Jamaica maintain ice hockey Challenge Series lead

JAMAICA’S SENIOR men’s ice hockey team has maintained its lead in the Challenger Series after a strong performance in the second leg of competition played in Long Island, United States, over the weekend.

The team secured two wins from four matches, defeating Puerto Rico and Lebanon, however, the team would finish the competition with two losses against the same opponents.

Don Anderson, president of the Jamaican Ice Hockey Olympic Association, applauded the team’s performance over the days of competition despite competing with a reduced roster.

“The team has been playing exceptionally well despite being four players short of the optimum complement,” he said.

“In New York, the team started with a roster of 14 players compared to the 18, which the other teams had.”

Jamaica entered the second leg of the Challenge Series with fine form after securing three wins in the opening leg in Chicago. The first-leg results saw them leading the standings with six points from their opening three wins.

They continued their winning vein with an opening victory over Puerto Rico, hammering them 11-2, the largest margin of victory in the competition.

However, the team was left to do without key player Carter Thornton, who suffered a broken elbow during the game and was ruled out of the competition.

The second match of the series halted the Jamaican dominance as the team fell 6-4 to Lebanon.

The lack of manpower started to take its toll on the squad as fatigue played a heavy role in Jamaica’s second successive defeat at the tournament.

The team slumped to a close 7-5 loss at the hands of Puerto Rico, where unforced errors played a major role in the result.

They would recover for their fourth and final match, however. Facing a much improved Lebanon outfit, Jamaica fought hard for an 8-4 victory to close out the weekend.

The results see Jamaica maintain their lead at the top of the standings with 10 points from their eight games. Lebanon sit second with eight points just ahead of Puerto Rico, six.

Jamaica also lead the tournament in goalscoring, bagging 52 goals ahead of Lebanon’s tally of 43.

Puerto Rico sit at the foot of the goalscoring table with 27.

The team will close out the Challenge Series in Toronto for the third leg, set to run from July 11 to July 14.