Bermuda 0 Mexico 5

Bermuda came up short against Mexico in their second match of the Pan American Challenge at the National Sports Centre on Sunday.

Grecia Mendoza scored her first international hat-trick, with the other goals coming from Dariana Cardiel and Arlette Estrada, as the Mexicans fired early warning shots.

Coming off a 2-0 loss to Paraguay in opening fixture on Saturday, Bermuda were buoyed by a small but passionate crowd, which included Governor Rena Lalgie.

The hosts succeeded in denying a fresh Mexico side, who are ranked 36th in the world, any goals in the opening 15 minutes of the match as well as the last quarter.

Jennifer Chisnall, who was outstanding in midfield for the home team, conceded that Mexico took advantage of Bermuda’s mistakes.

“I felt that Bermuda played pretty solid,” Chisnall told The Royal Gazette. “It was tough competition out there, we knew that they are a solid team.

“I thought that we held our composure quite well, there were moments where we made slight errors which Mexico capitalised on. Overall I think we had a solid game. It was a tough match, but I think we held our own.

“In terms of the goals we conceded, it was a matter of being able to switch on when we needed to.

“We went into this match with a solid plan, and did execute it quite well. We’re now focused on our next match against Guyana on Tuesday.”

Bermuda coach Kovin Moodley stated that they had no idea what to expect against the higher-ranked Mexicans, since they were not in action on Saturday.

“It was a bit of uncharted territory to try and figure out what their make up was and how they were going to perform,’’ Moodley said.

“The one thing that we knew is that they’re coming into this tournament as the favourites. Their expectation is that they should be beating every team, but in order to try and compete we needed to make sure that we were strong in our systems.

“I feel like at the start of the game we had good balance, and good structure for the first half of the game.

“Once you play against a team that is very physically fit and very tactical, the opportunities that they will create will start to put us under a lot of pressure. Once we started conceding, it became even harder to manage the game.

“That’s difference between the better teams in the world and everyone else. In moments where the game is in transition, those teams are really quick to accelerate.

“In those transitional moments where we lose the ball, we played against a side that took advantage of those moments.

“When you have a lack of structure in those moments, it exposes a lot. But I would say that there were some incredible goals that were scored, some beautiful technique and hockey to watch.

“We have a few injuries in the side, so we have to manage and balance our rotations and our substitutions, which does create a problem for us.

“I was quite happy to see that some players were able to maintain a bit of control for us after being asked to step into certain positions.”

One of the notable changes in Bermuda starting XI saw Latonia Fray replace Christina Stephens-Weser in goals. Fray did brilliantly to deny Mexico two scoring chances in the first quarter.

“We have two keepers in the tournament, both of them have different traits and strengths,’’ the coach said.

“It is a tournament where we know there are play-off matches that are part of it. In as much as we want to win every game, we also recognise that there’s a bit of tournament management that is necessary.

“We have a game on Tuesday that we've got to focus on. We want to try and make sure that we present ourselves in the best way.

“We think that having two keepers that feel like they've had the opportunity to take to the field makes a difference.

“I was quite happy with Latonia, she has a command of the back with her great leadership and communication. Unfortunately, she did have a really strong team to defend against, but she was very good with the quality of saves that she made.”

The 22-year-old Mendoza, who commended Bermuda for their fighting spirit, was thrilled to score her first international hat-trick for Mexico.

“I feel so excited because this is the first time for me to score three goals in one match,’’ Mendoza said.

“I’m excited because it’s our first game and it’s a good result for us. Bermuda were a good team, they did their best and it was difficult to enter their D-Zone at the beginning of the match.

“We play against Brazil in our next match. We want to be prepared for that game because Brazil are a good team, and we want to maintaining our winning run.

“We think we have a lot of chances to win the tournament. We just need to take it step-by-step and take it one match at a time.”