By Alex Webbe

In the final round of preliminary play in the 2010 USPA Silver Cup competition at the 302 Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina, Barrington (1-1) lost its first match of the season in a 9-8 game against Golden Zebra (1-2) while Orchard Hill (2-0) scored its second win in an 11-9 win over Pony Express (1-1) to set the stage for Thursday’s semifinals.

In the opening contest, Golden Zebra got off to its most productive first half of the tournament, scoring six times and taking a 6-3 halftime lead.

“We couldn’t control our destiny (regarding the semifinal pairings) so we just used it as a practice game,” said Barrington 7-goaler Tommy Biddle.  “With games scheduled for Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, it’s a lot of polo, and we wanted to save our horses for the semifinals.” (Golden Zebra had suffered earlier losses to Orchard Hill (15-8) and Winfield (13-6), and had been mathematically eliminated from the tournament).

Biddle scored the first goal of the game with Golden Zebra’s Owen Rinehart responding with a goal from the field, and the first chukker ended in a 1-1 tie.

Rinehart added another goal in the second for Golden Zebra and Julian Daniels scored twice for a 4-2 lead.  Biddle added a goal for Barrington in a muffled second period of play.

Goals from Adam Snow and Rinehart had Barrington trailing 6-3 at the half, with the sole Barrington goal coming from Biddle.

“We were playing a bunch of our spare ponies,” added Biddle, “and didn’t want to really press any of our horses.”

Julio Arellano converted a penalty shot in the fourth for Barrington with Rinehart answering with his fourth goal of the game.  Golden Zebra continued to lead, 7-4 as the chukker ended.

Goals from Snow and Daniels had Golden Zebra up 9-4 in the fifth until Arellano converted a second penalty shot.  The Golden Zebra lead extended to four goals, 9-5 with one chukker left to play.

Barrington finally shut down the golden Zebra attack in the final chukker, getting goals from Biddle, Antonio Galvan and Arellano in a 9-8 loss.

Golden Zebra took solace in the victory, but will have to watch Thursday’s semifinals from the sidelines, having been eliminated on winning percentage and net goals.

ORCHARD HILL 11, PONY EXPRESS 9

In what would pass as more of a practice game than a tournament match, Orchard Hill scored an 11-9 win over Pony Express to finish with a perfect 2-0 record and the top seed in Thursday’s semifinals.

Argentine 7-goaler Michel Dorignac scored the opening goal of the match with Nic Roldan and Lucas Criado responding with single goals for Orchard Hill as it took an early 2-1 lead after the opening chukker.

Gillian Johnston (substituting for Orchard Hill team captain Steve Van Andel) opened the second chukker with a goal from the field before Tiger Kneece retaliated with a goal from the field for Pony Express.  Another penalty goal from Criado ended the period with Orchard Hill holding on to a 4-2 advantage.

Goals from Johnston, Roldan and Chris Stratemann extended the Orchard Hill lead to four goals with Tomas Goti accounting for the sole Pony Express goal on a penalty conversion.  Orchard Hill took a 7-3 lead to the sidelines after the first half of play.

Dorignac opened the fourth with a goal before Johnston answered with two more for Orchard Hill.  Pony Express fell five goals behind, 9-4.

Three goals from Goti in the fifth brought Pony Express to within striking distance, as Orchard Hill got a single goal on a penalty shot from Criado.  Orchard Hill continued to lead, 10-7, but Pony Express was showing some life.

Criado added his fourth goal in the final chukker before a pair of goals from Goti ended the game.  The 11-9 victory and perfect 2-0 record boosted Orchard Hill into the top seed in Thursday’s 11 am semifinal action where it would once again face Pony Express (1-1). 

Barrington (1-1) and Winfield (1-1) would cap the afternoon in the second semifinal game at 4:30 pm.

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