Host Jamaica suffered a third consecutive defeat in the Pan American Youth Water Polo Championships when they went down 0-25 to Canada on day three at the National Aquatics Centre on Saturday.

The Jamaicans, who previously went down 3-39 to Brazil and 5-12 to Peru, are currently at the foot of Group B, which also includes Mexico.

Stephan Rizopoulus scored seven times in the blowout as Canada assumed pole position in the group, ahead of Brazil who defeated Mexico 17-7 in the early group fixture.

Jamaica lacked the speed and quality of the Canadians who briskly opened up a three-goal lead at the end of the first quarter. The local boys had a few chances as well, but could not push the opponents back enough to get a clear shot off, and eventually had to revert to the long range efforts.

Cody Jones’ parried shot and David Bryan’s shot, which came off the bar, were Jamaica’s best efforts of the quarter. Canada maintained the ascendancy and netted a further eight goals and held an 11-0 lead heading into the half-time break.

Jamaica played their strongest game in the third quarter and was hapless in not getting one past Aleksa Stanic, but was successful in restricting Canada to just three goals. However, their limitations came to the fore in the final quarter as Rizopoulus led Canada’s 11-goal run to complete an emphatic victory.

Jamaica’s Assistant Coach Justin Taylor explained that the young team is in a building phase and has cited the tournament as a means of gaining experience.

“We knew this was going to be a tough tournament in terms of the quality of water polo that was going to be here. The teams that have come in they are a lot more experienced — we are a young team which is a 17-and-under team getting a lot of exposure and experience,” he told the Jamaica Observer in a post-match interview.

“Going forward, we will take a lot away from this; we had a winnable game that we let slip away, but we are just trying to get as much out of this tournament and move forward. It is not over, we still have games going forward and we just want to do our best, work hard, and try to get a good performance,” he added.

Meanwhile, United States extended their lead atop Group A with a 22-8 win over Colombia while Puerto Rico registered a close 15-10 win over Trinidad & Tobago. The group also includes Argentina.

United States also moved to the summit of the female section with a 27-4 win over Trinidad & Tobago; Canada got past Mexico 10-7, while Brazil completed a 15-5 win over Puerto Rico.

Following the conclusion of the preliminary rounds, all teams from Group A will oppose teams from Group B in the quarter-final round, from which the four semi-finalists will be selected.

The competition continues today with Canada opposing Brazil in the feature game at 6:00 pm.