By Alex Webbe
Sunny Hale scores five times to lead Goose Creek to a 7-6 win over The Villages to take top honors in the WCT 3-6 goal Championships. The win gave Goose Creek a 2-0 record in the three team bracket and the final championship.
Hale scored the first goal of the game as the action got off to a blistering pace. A Goose Creek player fouled The Villages allowing Natascha Baecher an early penalty shot that she converted, tying the game up at 1-1. Two more goals from Hale, however (one on a penalty shot, one from the field), ended he first chukker with Goose Creek holding the reins on a 3-1 lead.
England’s Tamara Vestey scored a pair of goals for The Villages in the second chukker while limiting the Goose Creek offense to a single goal. After two chukkers of play, The Villages cut the goose Creek lead to a single goal, 4-3.
Hale’s fourth goal of the contest had Goose Creek up 5-3, but the Villages was determined to stay within striking distance. Paige Boone scored the last goal of the chukker for The Villages to trail, 5-4.
Vestey and Baecher cranked up The Villages offense in the fourth period with Vestey scoring the first goal of the final chukker to tie it up at 5-5 while Baecher’s second goal of the game gave The Villages its first lead of the afternoon, 6-5.
Hale went right to work and leveled eh score at 6-6 with her fifth goal of the game. Goose Creek’s team captain, Maureen Brennan, scored the winning goal for the victory in the hard-fought 7-6 victory, and received MVP honors for her efforts. Sunny Hale’s Puma was named Best Playing Pony.
G-OIL 6, POLOSKILZ 4
G-Oil took top honors in the 0-2 goal WCT Finals Friday afternoon, riding past an out-gunned PoloSkilz foursome in a 6-4 victory.
Colorado’s Erica Gandomcar got G-Oil on the scoreboard first with an opening chukker goal that would not be answered by PoloSkilz until the following chukker. Lauren Biddle tied it up with a goal from the field in the second period as G-Oil failed to produce any fruitful raids on the PoloSkilz goal.
Gandomcar scored again in the third, but goals from Natascha Baecher and Kristi Outhier pushed PoloSkilz ahead, 3-2.
A determined G-Oil team returned to the field with a vengeance, scoring four straight fourth chukker goals. Cecelia Cochran and Erica Gandomcar scored single goals while teammate Tiffany Busch scored once from the field and once on a penalty shot. Outhier countered with a penalty shot for a goal, but that was all the PoloSkilz team could deliver in the final chukker as G-Oil took home the trophy by virtue of a 6-4 win.
Erica Gandomcar led all scoring with three goals. Cecelia Cochran added a goal in the win and Tiffany Busch scored twice in the decisive fourth chukker, and was named MVP for her efforts.
SPEEDWELL 7, CATENA 4
Speedwell took advantage of one goal by handicap and added a goal from the field on a fine effort by Jennifer Williams to take a 2-0 lead after the first chukker of play.
A goal from the field from Erin Brittin was complimented by a 60-yard penalty conversion from Jolie Liston to even the core at 2-2, but there was plenty of time left in the chukker. Angela York responded with a goal from the field followed by a goal from Williams to close out the chukker with Speedwell boasting a 4-2 lead.
York opened the third with a penalty goal followed by a goal from teammate Maureen Brennan. Brittin scored on a penalty shot for Catena, but Speedwell continued to lead, 6-3.
York’s third goal of the match gave Speedwell a 7-3 advantage with Catena struggling to find its offense. Gwen Rizzo finally broke through the Speedwell defenses for a goal, but there was no more time left as Speedwell celebrated the 7-4 victory.
Angela York led all scoring with three goals, teammate Jennifer Williams scored twice and Maureen Brennan scored once. Speedwell received one goal by handicap.
Erin Brittin scored twice for the Catena team. Jolie Liston and Gwen Rizzo added single goals in a losing effort.