By Alex Webbe
Newport/Equine Law (Avery Chapman, Jason Crowder, Kris Kampsen and Gene Goldstein) fought back from a 5-3 halftime deficit to score a 7-6 win over Polo Gear/ROX TV (Grant Ganzi, Carlos Gracida, Carlitos Gracida and Stevie Orthwein) Tuesday afternoon at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Former 10-goaler Carlos Gracida scored the opening goal of the match in the first 30 seconds of the game to put Polo Gear/ROX TV up early, but Gene Goldstein responded with a goal for Newport/Equine Law for a 1-1 first chukker tie.
Carlos Gracida and son, Carlitos Gracida scored consecutive goals in the second period for a 3-1 lead. A penalty conversion by Avery Chapman cut the Polo Gear/ROX TV lead to a single goal, 3-2 at the end of the chukker.
Kris Kampsen converted a penalty shot for a goal in the third to knot it up at three goals apiece. A pair of goals from Stevie Orthwein closed out the first half, giving Polo Gear/ROX TV a 5-3 halftime advantage.
The fourth chukker was all about defense with Polo Gear/ROX TV being shut out while Goldstein scored Newport/Equine Law’s only goal from the field. With two periods left to play Polo Gear/ROX TV was guarding a narrow one goal lead, 5-4.
Goals were hard to come by in the fifth, with Chapman accounting for the only scoring for either team. Newport/Equine Law had pulled even with Polo Gear/ROX TV, 5-5 and had managed to keep them off of the scoreboard for the second consecutive chukker.
Carlos Gracida’s third goal of the game had Polo Gear/ROX TV on top, 6-5, but Newport/Equine Law wasn’t done yet. With less than a minute and-a-half to play, Jason Crowder stroked the ball through the goalposts to lock it up at 6-6. Following the ensuing throw-in, Newport/Equine Law took control of the ball and carried it down the field where Chapman scored the winning goal in the Newport/Equine Law 7-6 victory.
Chapman led the Newport/Equine Law attack with three goals. Gene Goldstein scored twice and Kris Kampsen and Jason Crowder accounted for single goals in the win.
Carlos Gracida set the pace for Polo Gear/ROX TV with three goals. Stevie Orthwein scored twice and Carlitos Gracida added a goal in a losing effort.