THE Jamaica senior men’s ice hockey team have maintained their lead after the second leg of the Challenger series of matches played in Long Island, USA, last weekend.

The team won two of their four matches, beating Puerto Rico 11-2 and Lebanon 8-4, but losing 5-7 to Puerto Rico and 4-6 to Lebanon in the other two matches.

The team had gone into the New York leg of the series leading the competition with six points from three wins in Chicago in April. With the two wins in New York the Jamaicans have moved to 10 points, two ahead of Lebanon who put in a strong showing in New York.

Jamaica is also leading in the number of goals scored with 52 from the eight matches, compared to 43 scored by Lebanon and 27 scored by Puerto Rico.

“The team have been playing exceptionally well, despite being four players short of the optimum complement. In New York the team started with a roster of 14 players, compared to the 18 which the other teams had,” a news release from Jamaica Ice Hockey Federation quotes President Don Anderson.

“Jamaica had to play two matches on Friday. In the first game against Puerto Rico the team lost the services of one of its key players, Carter Thornton, who suffered a broken elbow in a tackle, thereby reducing our full complement to 13,” Anderson said.

“Despite this the team played brilliantly, defeating Puerto Rico 11-2 — the biggest margin of victory in the tournament. Another player, Ethan Finlayson, who was unwell for the first match, recovered in time for the second match against Lebanon, increasing our numbers to 14,” Anderson added.

“We lost the second match to Lebanon 4-6. This was played eight hours after the first match and revealed the challenges faced by having fewer players from which to rotate the six on-ice players,” he explained.

He said that in the third game Jamaica lost 5-7 to Puerto Rico, “largely due to a build-up of fatigue amongst the players, which resulted in a number of unforced errors and costly goals”.

“In the final match played on Sunday morning against a vastly improved Lebanon, the team again displayed exceptional ice hockey skills in what was the most competitive game of the series, running out victors 8-4 and leading all the way in the match. The first of three periods ended 2-1. At the end of the second period Jamaica led 6-2,” Anderson said.