Army, QPCC retain Ventures hockey crowns, Paragon women dethrone Magnolia

TWO of three teams retained their crowns when the 20th edition of the Ventures Invitational Indoor Hockey Tournament concluded at the Woodbrook Youth Facility on January 12, with Defence Force and Queen's Park Cricket Club holding on to their respective men's open and veterans titles.

Defence Force finished runners-up in Pool A of the men's open division with nine points, after registering three wins and a loss. In their semifinal with QPCC, Defence Force looked to be in a spot of bother as QPCC stormed to a 3-0 lead after just four minutes, with Alexander Rowe scoring a brace.

Marcus James scored a double of his own as Defence Force levelled the game by the 21st minute, with Ghardel Elcock and skipper Tariq Singh adding the finishing touches to seal a 5-3 victory.

In the other semifinal, Saints (Guyana) played out a thriller as they edged Police by a 4-3 margin. Oshazay Savory and Jabari Lovell scored two goals apiece as Saints opened up a 4-1 lead by the 17th minute, before the Guyanese team held off a late rally by Police.

In a close final, Defence Force's Caleb Guiseppi scored in the 21st minute to help his team get past their Guyanese rivals 1-0.

QPCC defended their veterans division title in dramatic fashion, as they got a shootout win over Police after the teams played to a 2-2 tie in regulation time.

The first 20 minutes of the encounter were goalless, but a frenetic period then ensued with the game's four goals coming in the space of six minutes. Police opened the scoring in the 21st minute through Nicholas Wren, before a brace from Nicholas Camacho gave QPCC a 2-1 lead by the 25th minute.

A 27th minute penalty corner conversion from Wayne Legerton then levelled the scores.

Seeking revenge for their 6-4 round-robin loss to the lawmen on January 8, the Parkites had the last say in the shootout as goals by Ryan Cowie and Rob Wyatt earned them a 2-0 shootout win.

Police had a perfect run in the round-robin phase and even clobbered Notre Dame Hockey Club by a 5-1 margin in the semis. However, they couldn't get past the QPCC hurdle in the finale.

Fatima Hockey club grabbed third spot with a 5-0 win over Notre Dame, who went without a win in the division.

In the women's division, Paragon dethroned Magnolia when they got an exciting 3-2 win in the final.

Both teams emerged from their groups with perfect records, with Magnolia hammering Police "B" by a 5-1 margin in the first semifinal and Paragon defeating hosts Ventures Hockey Club 4-0 in the other semifinal.

Paragon kept up their scoring momentum in the final and they raced to a 3-0 lead by the 20th minute, after a brace by Krizia Layne and a ninth-minute opener from Felicia Ashby.

The 2024 champs didn't go down without a fight, and captain Shaniah De Freitas pulled a goal back for Magnolia in the 23rd minute, before her sister Savannah De Freitas brought them within a goal in the 27th minute.

Magnolia couldn't quite complete their comeback effort, though, and they surrendered their title in a reverse of last year's final result.