By Alex Webbe
Houston businessman and polo player Jeff Hildebrand made his 20-goal debut at the International Polo Club in Wellington Thursday morning with his Valiente I/Tonkawa team as they downed Villa Del Lago 11-7 in the first semifinal of the Iglehart Cup. With little ongoing rhythm to it, the choppy game produced 12 penalty goals and had Argentine 8-goaler Santiago Toccalino scoring ten of his team’s 11 goals in a winning effort.
The two teams battled through a scoreless six minutes of play before Toccalino made good on his first penalty shot of the day for a 1-0 Valiente I/Tonkawa leas. A brilliant run down the field by Villa Del Lago’s Pelon Escapite tied it up at 1-1 with 11 seconds on the clock.
Both defenses exerted themselves in the second period with Escapite converting a penalty shot for a brief 2-1 lead halfway through the chukker. Two minutes later, Toccalino tied it up on a penalty conversion, 2-2, to end the period.
Valiente I/Tonkawa took control early and scored the first three goals of the third chukker, 5-2, with Toccalino adding two more penalty goals and team captain Hildebrand scoring once from the field. Halfway through the period, Escapite scored for Villa Del Lago on another penalty shot, and the 5-3 held until the horn sounded the end of the first half f play.
Villa Del Lago tightened up the game in the fourth chukker, capitalizing on goals from Augustin Obregon and Escapite while limiting Valiente I/Tonkawa to a single goal from the field from Toccalino but continued to trail, 6-5.
Valiente I/Tonkawa extended their lead in the fifth on a pair of goals from Toccalino, including a beautifully placed 85 yard shot through the goal posts. Villa Del Lago picked up a single penalty goal from Escapite, falling behind, 8-6.
Toccalino added two more penalty conversions in the sixth chukker and added a goal from the field. Escapite scored his sixth goal of the game but fell in the final period, 11-7.
Toccalino led all scoring with ten goals for Valiente I/Tonkawa. Hildebrand scored a goal from the field in the win.
Escapite led the Villa Del Lago Effort with six goals. Obregon added a goal in the loss.