In a rain-postponed Monty Waterbury Cup match, White Birch (Santino Magrini, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant) had to overcome three goals by handicap awarded to Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Nick Manifold and Joao Paolo Ganon) to earn a 13-10 win Tuesday morning at the Greenwich Polo Club in the opening round of play.
On the strength of the three goals by handicap, Postage Stamp took the field with a 3-0 advantage, but White Birch got to work immediately with Hilario Ulloa scoring the first goal from the field, 3-1. Brandon Phillips converted a 60-yard penalty shot to give Postage Stamp Farm a 4-1 edge. A goal from the field from White Birch team captain Peter Brant cut the lead down to two goals, 4-2, and a 40-yard penalty goal from Ulloa closed the gap to a single goal, 4-3 to end the chukker.
An aggressive White Birch attack scored the first three goals of the second chukker, with Ulloa tying the game at 4-4 and Santino Magrini giving them the lead, 5-4, with his first goal of the game. Brant’s second goal of the game had White Birch on top, 6-4 when the Postage Stamp Farm offense stirred. Brazilian 7-goaler Joao Ganon tied the game at 6-6 with back-to-back goals to end the scoring in the period.
White Birch was not to be denied, however, with longtime teammates Aguerre and Brant striking back. White Birch came up with a pair of goals from Aguerre and another goal from Brant. Postage Stamp Farm managed single goals from Nick Manifold and Phillips, but it was White Birch with the 9-8 halftime lead.
White Birch kept the pressure on Postage Stamp Farm again in the fourth chukker with shutout defense and two more goals from the field from Aguerre. After four periods of play it was White Birch with the momentum and the lead, 11-8.
Both defenses were at their best in the fifth with Postage Stamp Farm team captain Annabelle Gundlach scoring the only goal of the chukker for her team while Aguerre tallied he only score of the period for White Birch. With one chukker left in regulation play, White Birch led by three goals, 12-9.
Aguerre’s sixth goal of the day gave White Birch a commanding 13-9 lead with time running down on the game clock. Phillips kept his team from getting blanked in the final chukker but it was White Birch with the 13-10 victory.
Aguerre led the field in scoring with six goals. Brant and Ulloa added three goals apiece and Magrini was credited with a goal for the win. Phillips scored a team-high three goals for Postage Stamp Farm. Ganon added two goals with Gundlach and Manifold each scoring a goal in the loss.
Monty Waterbury Cup play will continue on Wednesday with a 10am game between Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Tomas Garcia Del Rio, Mariano Gonzalez and Marcos Garcia Del Rio) Airstream (Peter Orthwein, Matias Magrini, Kris Kampsen and Guille Aguero). Goose creek enters the game with a 1-0 record after defeating Beluga in the Monty Waterbury Cup opener. Airstream will be playing their first game of the tournament.