LONDON, Ontario, Canada - Cross-over games of the Pan American Cup were played today at University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, in a pleasant sunshine in the morning and pouring rain later in the day.

Canada and Argentina logically reached the Final with solid wins over Chile and Trinidad & Tobago, while the surprise of the day came from Mexico who relegated the USA to the 7th-8th place game.

(3A) USA vs. (4B) Mexico : 0-2

Both teams started the game on a high tempo and eager to play after two days of rest. Mexico penetrated immediately the American D, but the first serious scoring chance was on the other side, with a penalty corner by Shawn Nakamura well saved by Mexican goalkeeper Alejandro Vargas. USA controlled the midfield and were dangerous on good runs by Gurpal Kundi on the right wing and Pat Harris in the middle, but were consistently denied by Vargas who stopped ten penalty corners and a number of chances from the field.

Mexico has a young, fast and enthusiastic team, well organized in defense and midfield. They created some chances with individual penetrations by their forwards, mostly by Pool Moreno, but the USA clearly dominated the first period. They were however unable to put the ball in the net once and half-time wad reached on the tied score of 0-0.

Mexico started the second period with a good chance on a penalty corner earned by Moreno. They also started to pressure higher on the field and were immediately rewarded when Jorge Gomez received a ball at the top of the D and blasted a shot high in the net to open the scoring in the forty first minute. USA tried to react but Pat Harris appeared too isolated in midfield to penetrate dangerously the closely knit Mexican defense, well backed by an imperial Vargas in goal.

The game camped for a long period in the Mexican defensive zone but the Americans couldn't do much in the densely populated D. In the last 10 minutes, the game became chippy and the long balls became the norm, the American trying to push the danger in the opposite D and the Mexican trying to release the pressure for a few seconds.

With the clock ticking down, the Mexican earned a penalty corner with Jaime Chavez scoring an insurance goal for a surprising victory over an American team that was clearly let down by its penalty corner routines (0 goals in 15 chances).

(4A) Puerto Rico vs. (3B) Netherlands Antilles : 2-5

Netherlands Antilles weathered the early pressure from Puerto Rico and, on their first dangerous incursion in the opposite D, earned a penalty corner scored by Jaap Overgaauw with his signature drag flick. Puerto Rico equalized shortly after on a decisive individual penetration of the D by Jaime Rodriguez Cartagena who eliminated a few Dutch Antilles defenders before scoring.

The game then stabilized, with Netherlands Antilles using their individual technique and experience to circulate the ball across the full width of the field, while Puerto Rico relied on their speed to develop a more direct style. They tried to use scoops to release the pressure or reached their forwards, but the high balls were handled easily by the Dutch Antilles players.

With five minutes to go in the period, Dutch Antilles forced another penalty corner and Jaap Overgaauw didn't miss the opportunity to increase the score. He scored another goal shortly after, from the field this time, to complete a personal hat-trick and push the score up to 3-1 at half-time.

The second period started tentatively, with Puerto Rico pushing to come back in the game and the Netherlands Antilles keeping a strict defense to protect their lead. The speed of the Puerto Rican possibly started to affect them and their defensive and attacking lines, too far apart, had trouble connecting. A Puerto Rican attacker was taken down while rushing for goal and the penalty stroke was converted by Jaime Rodriguez Cartagena, reducing the gap to 3-2, and setting the stage for an interesting end of game.

The Netherlands Antilles got a reprieve when Puerto Rico was reduced to ten players in the fifty third minute. They immediately capitalized with a penalty corner by Wouter Plantega and added a cushion goal by Jasper De Gier. With the score up at 5-2, there was nothing Puerto Rico could do any more and the Netherlands Antilles celebrated their access to the 5th-6th place game.

Semi-final - (2A) Chile vs. (1B) Canada : 2-4

The first semi-final started with Chile applying pressure on Canada with some high balls and dangerous penetrations by Pablo Kuhlental. The Canadian defenders sometimes needed to use risky passes to get out of trouble, but no really dangerous chances were created.

Canada earned a penalty corner in the 14th minute; it was well shot by Ravi Kahlon and Rob Short batted in the rebound to open the score. Following the goal, Canada dominated the game for a while but wasted a few opportunities, while Chile stayed dangerous on their occasional counter-attacks. On one of them, Pablo Kulhental deflected a free hit high in goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Canada reacted well with a good run on the right wing by Ken Pereira, who managed to slide the ball to Rob Short; his shot was too weak but Connor Grimes deflected it in goal. Three minutes later, Connor Grimes doubled its tally with a bullet at mid-height following a decisive rush from Ranjeev Deol on the left. The game became very physical at the end of the period; half-time was reached with a commending 3-1 lead for Canada.

Chile applied pressure at the beginning of the second period, led by Felipe Montegu and Pablo Kulhental, but to no avail. After a period of uncertain play in mid-field, Canada progressively gained the upper hand again and, after a close miss by Dave Jameson on a back hand deflection, they earned a penalty corner well scored by Wayne Fernandes to push the score up to 4-1.

Chile started to play with more urgency but could not find any room in a regrouped Canadian defense. They got a series of penalty corner and, on the third one, Felipe Montegu adjusted a low flick to reduce the score. The game then started to lose its structure, with both teams relying more on individual runs but without creating much danger.

Chile tried to push up the pace in the last ten minutes, but Canada had the game well in hand and, with the rain starting to come down heavily, booked their berth in the Final on Sunday with a solid performance.

Semi-final - (1A) Argentina vs. (2B) Trinidad & Tobago : 8-1

The game started after another storm delay and under steady rain, slowing the pace of the game to Trinidad & Tobago's advantage. Not much happened in the first ten minutes, until Argentina earned a penalty corner. Kurt Noriega ran into the shot and it was deemed dangerous much to the Argentineans' dismay. They avoided that problem on the next penalty corner with a swift give and go leaving Jorge Lombi with a clear flick for his twenty first goal of the tournament.

Argentina added another penalty corner by Juan Eduardo Garreta who picked up a rebound from a Lombi flick well saved by Glen Francis in goal for T&T. Kwandwane Browne tried to put some spark into Trinidad & Tobago's offense, but he was too isolated in the middle of the blue Argentinean shirts and Argentina maintained control on the play.

Trinidad & Tobago nevertheless managed to force a penalty corner and were close to reduce the score, but half-time was reached with the score still at 3-0. The second half started with play going back and forth, both teams using long individual runs to progress up the field. No clear chances were created and it is on another penalty corner that Lombi increased the score.

With the score at 4-0, Argentina was in complete control of the game, passing the ball around at will and scoring again twice by Lombi. Trinidad & Tobago reacted with a good chance on a penalty corner, saved by German Orozco on the line behind his goalkeeper, but Argentina pushed up the score to 8-0. Trinidad & Tobago forced a last minute penalty corner, scored by Kwandwane Browne with a superb lob.

Final score: 8-1, with 5 more goals for Jorge Lombi, pushing his personal total to 25.

The day ended with a spirited game for the volunteers, technical officials, umpires and team staff, cheered by players all too happy to have a chance, for once, to give "advice" to coaches and umpires!