The high-goal season is officially underway on the West Coast as the 20-goal La Herradura team (Guillermo Steta, Marianito Obregon, Carlos Gracida and Jason Crowder) beat Farmers & Merchants Bank (Dan Walker, Michel Dorignac, Lucas Criado and Henry Walker) 13-12 in the semifinals of the El Encanto Polo Classic I at the historic Santa Barbara Polo Club.
Santa Barbara Polo Club
The El Encanto Polo Classic is the first of four major 20-goal tournaments that include the USPA Lucchese America Cup, the USPA Piaget Silver Cup and the Bombardier Pacific Coast Open.
Argentine 7-goaler Michel Dorignac scored the first goal of the Friday morning game for Farmers & Merchants Bank followed by a goal from teammate Lucas Criado, 2-0. Jason Crowder got La Herradura on the scoreboard to close out the chukker. Farmers & Merchants Bank took the early lead, 2-1.
Marianito Obregon tied the game at 2-2 with his first goal from the field for La Herradura and added another goal on a 40-yard penalty conversion for a 3-2 lead. Dan Walker scored the final goal of the period to deadlock it at 3-3.
Criado opened the third with two straight goals, giving Farmers & Merchants Bank a two goal, 5-3 lead. Crowder added two from the field for La Herradura followed by a pair of penalty conversions for goals from Obregon. At the end of the first half La Herradura was leading, 7-5.
Crowder and Dorignac exchanged goals in the opening minutes of the fourth chukker, 8-6, followed by a goal from Henry Walker that brought Farmers & Merchants Bank within a goal of La Herradura, 8-7. Farmers & Merchants Bank got into foul trouble, and it cost them as Obregon converted three consecutive penalty shots to an 11-7 La Herradura advantage. Henry Walker scored the final goal of the chukker. La Herradura stretched their lead to three goals, 11-8.
For the first time all morning Farmers & Merchants Bank kept their opponent off of the scoreboard. Criado and Dorignac each added a penalty goal to the Farmers & Merchants Bank total, trailing La Herradura by a single goal, 11-10.
Guillermo Steta scored the opening goal of the sixth followed by a goal from the field from Obregon. La Herradura extended their lead to three goals, 13-10. Criado fought bravely back, adding two goals to the Farmers & Merchants Bank total when the offense stalled and La Herradura celebrated the 13-12 victory.
Obregon led all scorers with eight goals. Crowder accounted for four goals and Steta chipped in a goal as well. Criado led the Farmers & Merchants Bank offense with six goals, Dorignac scored three times; Henry Walker added two goals and Dan Walker was credited with a single goal in the loss.
The win boosts La Herradura into Sunday’s finals against Mansour (Ben Soleimani, Rico Mansur, Adam Snow and Santi Von Wernich).