Wellington Cup action at the Santa Clara Polo Club (Photo Courtesy of Gregory S. Ratner)
By Whitney Webbe
Santa Clara (Nico Escobar, Max Secunda, Ruben Gracida and Francisco Escobar) opened the three team Wellington Cup round-robin at the Santa Clara Polo Club with a 3-2 win over Elegante Polo (Tito Robledo, Robert Kiger, Richard Dudman and Tom Blake) in an afternoon match.
Nico Escobar scored the first two goals of the match while holding Elegante Polo scoreless. After the first seven minutes Santa Clara left the field with a 2-0 advantage over Elegante Polo.
Elegante Polo team captain Robert Kiger got his team on the scoreboard with a goal in the second period, leaving Santa Clara in the lead, 2-1.
Third chukker action had Ruben Gracida scoring for Santa Clara, 3-1, and Robert Kiger responding for Elegante Polo with a penalty conversion, trailing by a goal, 3-2 at the end of the mini-match.
AGUA CLARA 8, ELEGANTE POLO 4
Agua Clara (Mauricio Herrera, Wes Finlayson, Luis Escobar and Eloy Vallina) took the field for the next three chukkers against Elegante Polo.
Mauricio Herrera opened the scoring with a goal from the field for Agua Clara with teammate Wes Finlayson giving Agua Clara an early 2-0 lead. Tom Blake got Elegante Polo in the scoring column, 2-1. Herrera and Finlayson each added another goal for Agua Clara to end the chukker and put them on top of a 4-1 score.
Herrera and Tito Robledo exchanged goals in the opening minutes of the second period, keeping Agua Clara in front, 5-2. Finlayson added two goals for Agua Clara followed by Herrera’s third goal of the day, 8-2.
Single goals by Robledo and Blake closed out the final chukker with Agua Clara celebrating the 8-4 victory.
AGUA CLARA 4, SANTA CLARA 3
Nico Escobar opened the final three chukkers of play with his third goal of the afternoon for a 1-0 Santa Clara lead. Herrera fired back with his fifth goal of the match, 1-1. Nico Escobar ended the scoring in the opening chukker with a goal for a 2-1 Santa Clara lead.
Goals were scarce in the second chukker. Finlayson scored the only goal putting Agua Clara in front, 3-1.
Agua Clara’s defense blanked Santa Clara in the final chukker, picking up single goals from Herrera and Finlayson for the final 4-3 Agua Clara win.
Play continues in Wellington Cup competition on Saturday at 10AM at the Santa Clara Polo Club located at 12301 50th Street South, there is no charge for admission and the public is invited to attend.