By Alex Webbe
Circa locked up its appointment with Valiente I/Tankawa Sunday at noon in the finals of the 20-goal Iglehart Cup with a resounding 13-10 win over an outgunned Equuleus team Friday afternoon at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
Circa 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa opened the first chukker with a penalty goal followed by a goal from the field from teammate Martin Pepa. Mariano Gonzalez got Equuleus on the scoreboard with a penalty conversion for a goal. Circa held a narrow 2-1 edge after the opening chukker.
Paco de Narvaez tied it up at 2-2 with a goal from the field but that was the end of the Equuleus offense for the chukker. Circa closed out the chukker with four consecutive goals. Ulloa scored on a penalty shot and added two goals from the field. Pepa managed a goal as well as Circa rode off with a 6-2 advantage.
Gonzalez opened the third period with a penalty shot for a goal followed by a goal from Ulloa. Another penalty conversion from de Narvaez was followed by Ulloa’s second goal of the chukker. At the midway point, Circa commanded an 8-4 lead.
Circa cranked it up a notch in the fourth with a stifling defense blanking Equuleus while single goals from Pepa, Guille Aguero and Ulloa extended their lead to seven goals, 11-4 with the players racing up and down the field, seemingly scoring at will.
Equuleus took control of the game in the fifth while Circa seemed to rest on their laurels. Four unanswered goals cut the lead to three goals, 11-8, with Gonzalez scoring twice (once on a penalty shot) and Brandon Phillips and de Narvaez adding single goals from the field. The first three goals by Gonzalez, Phillips and de Narvaez were all scored in the first two-and-a-half minutes of play.
Aguero stretched the Circa lead to four goals on an incredibly-placed neck shot from an extreme angle in the sixth chukker, 12-8. Gonzalez responded with a goal from the field from Equuleus, but Chris Del Gatto scooped up the ball and raced over 160 yards down the field for a goal to put Circa ahead, 13-9. Phillips accounted for the final goal of the game for Equuleus as they fell 13-10 to a talented Circa foursome.
Ulloa led all scoring with seven goals (two on penalty shots). Pepa added three goals; Aguero scored twice and Del Gatto scored once in the win.
Gonzalez scored three of his five goals on penalty shots. De Narvaez scored three times (once by penalty) and Phillips added two goals in a losing effort.