The Jamaican ice hockey team celebrates after a 12-8 win over Lebanon in the inaugural Challenger Series on July 13, 2024 in Toronto, Canada.
The Jamaican ice hockey team emerged victorious in the final game of the Challenger Series at the College Ice Arena in Toronto on July 13, defeating a powerful Lebanese team, 12-8.
In a tense match played in front of hundreds of cheering supporters, Jamaica jumped out to an early lead in the first of three 20-minute periods but fell behind after Lebanon scored three straight goals in the opening 15 minutes.
Jamaica rallied and fought back in the second period to lead 5-3 and then 6-4, but Lebanon caught up and tied the score at 6-6.
Buoyed by the enthusiastic cheers of the huge crowd, Jamaica stormed back late in the second period, scoring three more goals to end the period with a 9-6 lead.
With victory in sight at the start of the third and final period, the team continued to apply relentless pressure on the Lebanese team, extending their lead to 11-7 with four minutes left in the game.
Jamaica then held firm and never let the lead slip away again, scoring the 12th point against the run of play to make it 12-7, sealing the win for a highly motivated team made up of players who showed passion throughout the match. Lebanon scored an eighth consolation goal to end the match in favour of Jamaica, 12-8.
Ten different Jamaica players scored in the match with Reggie Millett and Givani Smith scoring two each and Malik McGowan, captain Taos Jordan, Amari Sellers, Tyler Drummond, Dante Sherif, Avery Grant, Josh Mitton and Marquis Grant-Mentis each scoring one.
The Challenger Series is a new tournament featuring Puerto Rico, Lebanon and Jamaica, who are associate members of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).
The Challenger Series began in Chicago in April, continued in New York in June and culminated a week ago in Toronto. Jamaica was in the lead after the second leg in New York and had an automatic berth in the finals thanks to the points they earned in the first two legs. Puerto Rico and Lebanon had to play in a playoff on Friday to determine the other finalist. In that match, Lebanon defeated Puerto Rico 9-3.
Through three legs, the Jamaican team has won six of their nine matches and has scored more than 100 goals in 22 matches since starting competitive matches in 2019, winning 16 and losing six.
Team Jamaica received generous support throughout the three matches from numerous sponsors and individual sponsors, including Mayberry Investments, JN Money, Natural Fountain Juice (New York), Jerkin' Chicken (New York), Team Bikkle Jamaica (New York), Jamaica Tourist Board (Miami), Jamaica Midwest Association of Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (Chicago) and Caribbean Queen Jerk Drum (Toronto).
According to Don Anderson, president of the Jamaica Olympic Ice Hockey Federation (JOIHF), the federation's current goal is to establish an ice rink in Jamaica and to build a strong local program that will enable the team to play in Olympic qualifying tournaments. He added that experts believe the team has the potential to achieve high global rankings if given the opportunity to play at the next level among countries with ice rinks.
