(L to R)-Facundo Obregon and Mike Azzaro battle for control of the ball in La Indiana’s 10-6 semifinal win Wednesday afternoon in the 20-goal Joe Barry Memorial Cup at the International Polo Club. (Photo by David Lominska)
A balanced La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Jeff Hall, Mike Azzaro and Gringo Colombres) attack overcame a 4-3 halftime deficit to defeat Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Sapo Caset, Costi Caset and Facundo Obregon) 10-6 Wednesday afternoon in the first semifinal of the 2017 Joe Barry Memorial Cup at the International Polo Club.
The powerful Tonkawa lineup averaged over 14 goals per game in preliminary tournament play for a 3-0 record and a bye into the tournament semifinal. La Indiana struggled through early competition, emerging with a dismal 1-2 record before defeating Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Peke Gonzalez, Mariano Gonzalez and Tomas Garcia del Rio) in Sunday’s mini-quarters and earning a shot at Tonkawa in semifinal action.
In a choppy, penalty interrupted match, Jeff Hall let the La Indiana attack with four goals, all from the field. Gringo Colombres scored three times; Mike Azzaro added two goals and team captain Michael Bickford was credited with a goal for the win.
Mt. Brilliant 11, Grand Champions 10
Grand Champions Polo Club (Grant Ganzi, Inaki Laprida, Nic Roldan and Juancito Bollini) became the second upset casualty of the day as they suffered their first loss of the season in an 11-10 loss to Mt. Brilliant (Bo Goodman, Jason Crowder, Santiago Chavanne and Julian Daniels).
The score was tied at 5-5 at the end of the first half with Mt. Brilliant taking a 10-8 lead after the fifth. Santiago Chavanne scored his seventh goal of the day in the final chukker, giving Mt. Brilliant a three-goal, 11-8 advantage. A missed 60-yard penalty shot by Grand Champions came with under 3:30 left in the game. Grand Champions rallied for consecutive goals from Juancito Bollini and Roldan to make it 11-10. A penalty in the final seconds gave Grand Champions one last chance with a penalty shot from midfield and five seconds on the clock, but Mt. Brilliant cleared the threat to celebrate the 11-10 victory and a date to meet La Indiana in Sunday’s 3pm Joe Barry Memorial Cup final.
Villa del Lago (Jim Zenni, Agustin Obregon, Hilario Ulloa and Carlucho Arellano) will face Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Julian de Lusarreta, Julio Arellano and Del Walton) in the consolation Bobby Barry Cup final on Sunday in a 12pm contest.