By Alex Webbe
Toto Collardin scored four goals to lead San Saba (1-1) past Audi (0-2) in Ylvisaker Cup play Tuesday afternoon at the International Polo Club in Wellington in second round action.
The slow-paced event saw San Saba crawl its way to a 3-1 halftime lead as both teams struggled to score.
Martin Aguerre (4) entered the game in the fourth chukker for Audi to replace an injured Stevie Orthwein (knee). A penalty conversion and a goal from the field by Gonzalito Pieres tied the match at 3-3 to end the period.
Both teams continued to struggle. San Saba’s Luis Echezareta scored the only goal of the fifth chukker, taking a 4-3 lead into the final period.
Pieres converted a third penalty shot and followed it up with another goal from the field to tie and then take a 5-4 lead.
San Saba fought back, however. Collardin converted a Penalty 2 to tie it up before scoring the winning goal.
The keeps San Saba in the running for a spot in the tournament quarterfinals, while the loss drops Audi from the competition.
Pieres scored all five goals for Audi while San Saba’s Paco de Narvaez and Luis Echezareta added single goals to compliment Collardin’s four goals.
BLACK WATCH 12, PONY EXPRESS 11
In earlier play, Pablo MacDonough scored nine goals as Black Watch (1-1) knocked Pony Express out of Ylvisaker Cup competition with a 12-11 win.
Black Watch received one goal by handicap but found itself trailing 7-5 at the half.
Tomas Goti scored all seven goals for Pony Express while Black Watch relied on four goals from MacDonough.
Nacho Figueras opened the scoring in the fourth period for Black Watch with a goal that was quickly followed by a pair of goals from MacDonough to move ahead 8-7. Goti scored on a 40-yard penalty shot to knot it at 8-8.
Goti scored on another penalty shot in the fifth period to take a short-lived 9-8 lead before two more goals from MacDonough put Black Watch on top 10-9 to end the chukker.
Figueras added a goal to open the sixth period for an 11-9 lead, but Pony Express fought its way back. Team captain Bob Daniels scored to cut the Black Watch lead to a single goal, 11-10. Goti scored his tenth goal of the match for an 11-11 tie before MacDonough’s ninth goal of the game secured the win for Black Watch.
Ylvisaker Cup competition will continue at noon on Wednesday with Catamount (1-0) playing Mt. Brilliant (1-0). At 3 pm, Isla Carroll (1-0) is scheduled to face Skeeterville (1-0).