By Alex Webbe
Wins by Great Oaks on Tuesday afternoon and La Alegria on Wednesday set up the final match for the 2010 Hampton Cup at the Bridgehampton Polo Club on Friday morning, September 3 at 10 am-weather permitting.
The matchup pits last year’s finalists against one another, with La Alegria (competing in 2009 as White Birch) looking to extract some measure of revenge after last year’s one goal loss.
In Thursday’s contest, Great Oaks staged a last chukker offensive and an oppressive defense to rally to a come-from-behind 8-7 win over Black Watch.
Early play had Great Oaks taking the upper hand, outscoring Black Watch 4-2 in the first three chukkers of play.
Goals from Tomas Garcia Del Rio and Marcos Garcia Del Rio were countered by a single goal from Black Watch’s Lucas Criado in the first chukker before a scoreless second chukker left the game with Great Oaks on top of a 2-1 lead.
Tomas Garcia Del Rio converted two penalty shots for goals in the third chukker while holding Black Watch to a single penalty conversion from Criado for a 4-2 Great Oaks halftime lead.
A renewed Black Watch team returned to the field for the second half of play, with Criado scoring three unanswered goals from the field. Black Watch took its first lead of the game in the fourth chukker with a 5-4 advantage.
A penalty conversion from Criado opened the fifth, followed by a goal from Nacho Figueras. Black Watch stretched its lead to three goals, 7-4, before Great Oaks answered with a goal from Dillon Bacon. With one chukker left to play, Black Watch held a two goal lead, 7-5.
The sixth period of the game was all Great Oaks. With shot after shot missing its mark for Black Watch (including a 60-yard penalty attempt), Great Oaks got a pair of goals from Paul Pieres and a single goal from Tomas Garcia Del Rio for the win.
Criado led all scoring with six goals. Figueras added a goal in the loss.
Pieres and Tomas Garcia Del Rio scored three goals apiece for Great Oaks. Bacon and Marcos Garcia Del Rio added single goals for the winning side.
LA ALEGRIA 9, EQUULEUS 8
A balanced La Alegria attack outlasted a heroic effort by Equuleus 7-goaler Mariano Gonzalez in a 9-8 win for La Alegria in the second semifinal of the 2010 Hampton Cup Wednesday afternoon.
Goals from Mariano Aguerre and Marianito Gracida had La Alegria leading 2-1 after the opening chukker, with Gonzalez scoring the single goal for Equuleus.
Foul trouble cost La Alegria in the second period with Gonzalez converting three attempts for Equuleus while holding La Alegria to a single goal from Robert Payne (substituting for team captain Peter Brant). Equuleus took a 4-3 lead to the sidelines with them following the chukker.
Goals from Fred Mannix and Aguerre in the third were accompanied by shutout defense, and La Alegria enjoyed a narrow 5-4 halftime advantage in the contest.
Equuleus responded in the second half with a hard checking defense that kept La Alegria off the scoreboard while Gonzalez tied it with a penalty conversion, 5-5,
The lead changed hands twice in the fifth chukker, with La Alegria getting goals from Aguerre and Payne and Gonzalez scoring on two more penalty shots for the 7-7 deadlock.
Mannix scored to put La Alegria up, 8-7, in the final chukker and Aguerre converted his fourth penalty shot of the game for a 9-7 lead as Equuleus struggled to get back into the game.
A final penalty conversion by Gonzalez was all Equuleus could muster, however, with La Alegria riding off with the 9-8 win and a berth in Friday’s finals against Great Oaks.
Mariano Gonzalez led all scoring on the day with eight goals (seven on penalty shots) for Equuleus.
La Alegria got four goals from Aguerre; two apiece from Mannix and Payne and a single goal from Gracida for the win.
CABALLEROS 10, CERTIFIED 6
In an uninspired first half of play that saw only thre3 goals scored, the Caballeros (who received two goals by handicap) took a 3-2 lead into the second half of play before rolling over Certified by a 10-6 score in the subsidiary of the Hampton Cup.
Tommy Biddle showed resiliency in the win, bouncing back from an injury that sidelined him and forced the Caballeros to forfeit a game just a few days ago, scoring three times in the win.
The Caballeros used a four goal fourth chukker to move out to a 7-2 lead, holding Certified scoreless for the third time in four chukkers.
Certified responded with goals from Michael Borrico and Gonzalo Garcia Del Rio in the fifth, with Biddle scoring the lone goal of the period for the Caballeros.
Yvonne Morabito and Biddle closed out the scoring for the Caballeros in the final chukker with Borrico and Inaki Laprida scoring single goals in the period.
Caballeros team captain Yvonne Morabito led all scoring with four goals on the day. Biddle added three goals and Naco Taverna scored once in the win.
Certified team captain Michael Borrico led his team with three goals. Gonzalo Garcia Del Rio added two and Laprida scored once.