By Alex Webbe
A balanced Bud Light/ERG (2-0) attack scored a 10-8 win over Bendabout (1-1) in second round action in the 2008 Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington on Sunday.
Opening chukker goals from Julio Gracida and Roberto Gonzalez gave Bud Light/ERG an early 3-1 lead. Both teams traded goals in the second chukker resulting in a Bud Light/ERG 5-3 advantage after the first two periods of play.
Gonzalez and Gracida scored again in the third chukker, and holding a 7-5 halftime lead, Bud Light/ERG never trailed.
Goals from Galindo and Gracida made it 9-2 after the fourth, and in spite of scoring only one more goal in the contest, Bud Light/ERG’s defense held on for the 10-8 win.
Julio Gracida led Bud Light/ERG with four goals while Hector Galindo and Roberto Gonzalez scored three goals apiece in the win.
Ten-goaler Miguel Novillo Astrada led all scoring with five goals, but it wasn’t enough as Bud Light/ERG outplayed them throughout the game.
Miguel’s brother, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, scored twice and team captain Gillian Johnston added a single goal in the loss.
In earlier Ylvisaker Cup competition, Sugar Erskine rallied Isla Carroll (1-0) from an 8-5 halftime deficit to capture a hard-fought 14-13 battle with Patagones (0-2).
Scoring five goals in the second half, and aided by teammates Sylvestre “Bete” Donovan and Shane Rice, Isla Carroll cut the Patagones lead to a single goal after the fifth chukker (11-10), and was actually leading 13-12 before Gonzalo Avendano tied it up for Patagones with a goal from the field.
Erskine captured the day for Isla Carroll in “sudden-death” overtime by scoring his fifth goal of the match. Donovan added three goals and Rice converted five penalty shots and scored a sixth goal from the field to lead Isla Carroll with six goals.
Mariano Gonzalez led all scoring with seven goals (six on penalty shots). Carlos Avendano scored three goals; Gonzalo Avendano added two goals and Carlucho Arellano was held to a single goal in the loss.
Ylvisaker Cup play will continue on Tuesday with Pony Express (0-1) meeting Black Watch (0-1).