It was written here two weeks ago about the wind from the north that blew in on an otherwise sunny afternoon at the Eldorado Polo Club and cooled things off somewhat. That hadn’t changed on Sunday January 25, 2015 as John Rooney’s Northern Blizzard polo team (Joe Henderson 4, Jason Crowder 6, Herndon Radcliff 1, Jim Wright 1,sub for Rooney) blew in once again and absolutely covered Jenny Lutterell-Benardoni’s Cotterel Farms group (Jenny Lutterell-Benardoni, Ruben Coscia 5, Juan Curbello 5, Charlie Petersen 2) to win the January 12 Goal Tournament final by a count of 13 – 8.
At the start, everything appeared fine as Curbelo quickly ran and scored from the opening to give Cotterel a short lived lead. It wasn’t fine however, as the weather changed in a hurry. The wind blew and the blizzard was on – again. Crowder took over and easily scored a pair and the first was over with the Rooney quartet leading by one at 2 – 1.
The storm reached its peak in the second as Northern Blizzard counted five field goals (Crowder with four and Henderson grabbing one) and the reply from Cotterel was zero to create a score of 7 – 1.
The early third period was once again controlled by the northern invaders as Crowder ran easily to count one more. Coscia responded to get one back for Cotterel, but Crowder responded to that with a long run to score – the winner as it turned out – and the difference was once again seven goals. Coscia – as steady as they come – scored a pair and the blustery half was over with Northern Blizzard leading at 9 – 4.
The fourth was rather quiet as each team scored but one goal. For Cotterel, Lutterell-Benardoni, scored her first of two, with a reply coming from Crowder. At the end of four, it was 10 – 5 Northern Blizzard.
The wind picked up again in the fifth chukker as Crowder continued to run and impress with a pair from the field and a safety conversion from 66 yards and the tally was now 13 – 5 to favor the Rooney group.
The storm was over in the sixth as Cotterel was able to find the net three times – Lutterell-Benardoni with her second, Curbelo with his second, and Coscia with his fourth and it was over. The snow that was Northern Blizzard now covered the fields of Cotterel Farms. The result gave the Canadian sponsored team not only the title but the coveted Roenisch Bronzes that go along with it.
With “his nose in every play” and scoring 12 goals on the afternoon, Crowder was the obvious choice as the Most Valuable Player and his second chukker mare, Lucy, was selected as the Best Playing Pony.
Tony Gregg