By Alex Webbe
The final berth in the semifinals of the 2008 USPA Piaget Gold Cup was nailed down by an aggressive Skeeterville offense that stormed out to a 7-2 halftime lead over a bewildered Pony Express lineup.
The usually troublesome combination of Pelon Sterling and Nicolas Roldan didn’t seem to show up for the gunfight everyone expected as Roldan was held to five penalty goals and was scoreless from the field. Sterling who had dazzled fans in earlier games with his dashing runs to the goal was held to a single goal, while two of the three goals scored by 10-goaler Matias Magrini came in the final chukker, long after the game had been decided.
The Skeeterville scoring was spread throughout the team, with Julio Arellano scoring four of his team high five goals from the field, and converting the only penalty shot he had. Adam snow scored three times. Owen Rinehart added two goals to the mix and team captain Will Johnston scored once.
Receiving one goal by handicap, Skeeterville quickly built a 3-1 first chukker lead on goals from Arellano and Snow. A Roldan penalty goal was the extent of the Pony Express attack in the opening period.
Arellano added two more goals in the second frame; a goal from Rinehart gave Skeeterville a 6-1 lead, as Pony Express was held scoreless.
Goals from Rinehart and Magrini left Skeeterville ahead at the half, 7-2.
“A polo team either works or it doesn’t,” said Rinehart who credited the aggressive play of Adam Snow and Will Johnston for neutralizing Sterling and Roldan.
“We’re well-mounted,” he added, and we just concentrated on not letting them get any fast breaks going. The game plan worked.”
The game plan more than worked. It reduced a very dangerous and talented offense to a team scrambling to get something going.
Pony Express scored five of its nine goals in the final two chukkers, as Skeeterville appeared to be saving its horses for Wednesday’s semifinal showdown with Black Watch.
BLACK WATCH 13, BENDABOUT 12
Nacho Figueras scored the winning goal in the last minute of play as Black Watch won a 13-12 game over Bendabout in the quarterfinals Sunday.
Black Watch received two goals by handicap and quickly ran that into a 5-2 lead after the opening chukker of play.
The Bendabout attack rallied to stay in the game, cutting the lead to two goals in the third chukker, but just before the final bell sounded, Figueras picked a defensive backhand shot out of the air on the nearside (left) of his horse and carried it through the goal for a 9-6 lead.
Pablo MacDonough scored his fourth and fifth goals of the game in the fourth chukker while the Black Watch defense held Bendabout scoreless, and Black Watch ended the period with an 11-6 lead.
The fifth chukker, however, belonged to Bendabout with Alejandro Astrada scoring twice from the field while Mariano Gonzalez converted a penalty shot. Black Watch was unable to score, but held on to an 11-9 advantage.
A rejuvenated Bendabout team rode onto the field for the final chukker. Taking advantage of Black Watch fouls, Gonzalez converted to attempts to tie the game at 11-11. Moments later, Gillian Johnston scored her third goal of the game to give Bendabout its first lead of the match, 12-11.
Black Watch was fouled on an ensuing charge toward the Bendabout goal, and Matias MacDonough tied the game on a 30-yard penalty shot. Nacho Figueras managed to tap the ball through a “scrum” of players in the Bendabout goalmouth with a minute left to play, and Black Watch recovered the lead, 13-12.
Black Watch mounted an attack that was turned around by Miguel Astrada. A long pass downfield found Johnson on a breakaway. A long shot at the goal was halted in mid-flight by the final bell, and Black Watch took home a well-deserved 13-12 win.
Black Watch will meet the winner of the Skeeterville-Pony Express in Wednesday’s semifinals.
LAS MONJITAS 12, ISLA CARROLL 11
In Earlier action, Las Monjitas avenged an earlier loss in the finals of the C. V. Whitney Cup by handing Isla Carroll a 12-11 defeat that would put them into Wednesday’s semifinals of the Gold Cup against Crab Orchard.
Las Monjitas patron Camilo Bautista was back at his familiar Number 1 position after a business trip that saw him miss two games, and all seemed right with the world as his team cruised to an 8-3 halftime lead.
Isla Carroll fought back, however, in the fourth chukker as 10-goaler Facundo Pieres accounted for three goals and Marcos di Paola added a fourth. Las Monjitas received goals from Bautista and Nacho Astrada, and held a 10-7 advantage.
Isla Carroll pecked away at the lead, scoring two goals (a goal from the field from Magoo Laprida and a penalty goal from Pieres) to a single penalty conversion by Nacho Astrada, cutting the Las Monjitas lead to two goals, 11-9.
Another penalty conversion by Nacho Astrada made it 12-9, and despite goals from Pieres and di Paola, Las Monjitas held on for the 12-11 win.
Facundo Pieres led the Isla attack with eight goals, di Paola scored twice and Laprida added a single goal in the loss.
Nacho Astrada paced the Las Monjitas scoring punch with eight goals. Eduardo Astrada scored twice and Bautista and Javier Astrada added single goals.
CRAB ORCHARD 16, ZACARA 10
Crab Orchard flexed its muscles in a morning game that saw Lyndon Lea’s Zacara team run off the field in a 16-10 loss to the defending USPA Piaget Gold Cup champions.
The teams were tied 2-2 after the first chukker and 3-3 after the second period before Crab Orchard broke out on top of a 6-4 halftime lead.
Carlos Gracida scored the only goal of the fourth chukker for Zacara while Crab Orchard relied on two goals from Adolfo Cambiaso and three from Nachi Heguy to jump out to a six-goal lead, 11-5.
Defense was the byword of the fifth period with each team held to a single goal before Zacara tried a final chukker surge, trailing 12-6.
Two opening goals from Zacara’s Mike Azzaro gave hope to its supporters, but the hope was short-lived. Cambiaso quickly returned the compliment, scoring twice within a minute of play, and once again, Zacara held a six-goal lead, 14-8.
Zacara’s hard-hitting Back, Tommy Biddle, added two more goals cut the lead to 14-10 before Jeff Blake finally shut the door on any hopes for a Zacara win with his third and fourth goals of the game. The win puts Crab Orchard in the Gold Cup semifinals on Wednesday against Las Monjitas.