With two seconds left on the clock and Las Monjitas taking a penalty shot just yards from its own goal, Black Watch’s Freddie Mannix, Jr. jumped on the play and stole the ball from Nacho Astrada, carried the ball across in front of the Las Monjitas goal and hammered a neck shot through the goal posts for the winning goal in the opening round of play in the 2009 USPA Piaget Gold Cup played at the International Polo Club Saturday afternoon.
“It was an amazing goal,” said Black Watch 6-goaler Nacho Figueras. “The win was very important for us.”
The game was slow to get started with Black watch holding early leads of 1-0 after the first chukker and 3-1 after the second. The teams were tied at four goals apiece at halftime before Las Monjitas took a 7-5 lead after the fourth chukker.
“They’re a super team,” said Mannix of the Las Monjitas foursome, “They have a warrior-like attitude, they go all out. I was very pleased with the way we played today,” he added.
The two teams swapped goals in the fifth chukker, with Black Watch getting scores from Sugar Erskine and Luis Escobar while Adam Snow and Nacho Astrada scored for Las Monjitas. Black Watch left the field trailing 9-8.
Both defenses tightened in the sixth period. Play stopped when Las Monjitas’ 9-goaler, Eduardo Astrada, was struck in the face with the head of a horse and suffered cuts. Las Monjitas was awarded a penalty shot when play resumed, but Black was able to block the shot and return it downfield. An infraction was called on the Black Watch team in the vicinity of the Las Monjitas goal, and a “spot foul” (a penalty shot awarded at the spot of the foul) was awarded to Las Monjitas.
Nacho Astrada tapped the ball once, and before he could make a second play on it, it was stolen by Freddie Mannix, Jr., who stroked it through the goal posts for the win.
“The attitudes of the players on the team are positive,” offered Black Watch Number 4, Luis Escobar. “Nobody wanted to make a mistake in the game, and we were all very patient.”
Mannix led Black Watch with four goals, Escobar and Sugar Erskine scored three goals apiece.
Nacho Astrada’s six goals led all scoring on the day. Adam snow scored twice and Eduardo Astrada added a single goal for Las Monjitas.
LECHUZA CARACAS 8, WHITE BIRCH 6
In earlier Gold Cup action, a balanced Lechuza Caracas attack struggled with White Birch for the first three chukkers before charging out to a 5-2 lead after the fourth chukker of play.
White Birch’s Pancho Bensadon (8) accounted for the only scoring in the first chukker as he converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal.
Sapo Caset scored once from the field for Lechuza in the second period as its defense kept White Birch off of the scoreboard for a 1-1 tie.
Both offenses continued to struggle in the third chukker with Nicolas Espain scoring from the field for Lechuza while Jeff Blake converted a penalty shot for a goal for White Birch, leaving the game all even at 2-2 at the end of the first half.
The fourth chukker belonged to Lechuza as its offense put three goals on the scoreboard for a 5-2 lead as White Birch was blanked for a second period.
Each team managed only a single goal in the fifth chukker, 6-3, before White Birch managed to find its offense.
In the sixth chukker Bensadon scored twice and Blake added a single goal for White Birch, but it was a case of too little too late.
Lechuza team captain Victor Vargas and Espain answered with single goals as White Birch fell 8-6.
Bensadon scored three goals for White Birch. Mariano Aguerre scored twice and Blake added a single goal.
Lechuza received three goals from each Caset and Espain, and single goals from Victor Vargas and 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero.
Gold Cup play continues on Sunday at the International Polo Club in Wellington with a 1pm contest between Audi and Pony Express. The 3pm contest will feature Zacara and Orchard Hill.