Bermuda suffered heartbreak with a 1-0 defeat by Dominican Republic in the Tier 1 semi-finals of the Caribbean Under-14 Girls Challenge Series this evening, but goalkeeper Sydney Denkins walked away as the toast of the town.

Denkins was named player of the match on the back of several outstanding saves to continue a sequence of Bermuda players earning the distinction in their four matches in Trinidad & Tobago.

She followed fellow goalkeeper Kyra Simmons, as well as the Tucker twins, Alva and Paloma.

Coach Don Vickers, who was pleased with how the team played throughout the tournament, praised the two goalkeepers in the side.

“We've got two exceptional goalkeepers at this level, we have to continue to nurture and develop them,” Vickers said.

“They both won the player-of-the-match award at this tournament. That meant Bermuda won the award in all its four matches.

“We are proud of the girls, they played their hearts out. We just have to get better and trust the process.

“In four matches, we only conceded three goals. In most matches, we stuck to our game plan and it worked for us.

“We encourage the girls to play the ball around rather than kick it away. It was unfortunate that we got caught at that stage and conceded a goal against Dominican, but the girls will learn from such things.”

Denkins denied Dominican on numerous occasions until they scored the only goal of the match through substitute Marina Torres. Dominican will play champions Puerto Rico in the final on Sunday.

After a goalless first half, Bermuda survived seven minutes into the second half as Delilah Ramirez, the Dominican captain skied a penalty. Three minutes later, the Bermuda keeper made a fine stop to deny the same player.

With pressure mounting, the Bermuda defence was caught in possession and the ball fell for Torres to rifle into the net.