Audi rallied in final chukker of Saturday afternoon’s Joe Barry Memorial Cup match to score an exciting 10-9 win over the veteran La Herradura lineup.
La Herradura entered the final Joe Barry Memorial Cup match Saturday afternoon as one of only four remaining unbeaten teams in the tournament. Previously unbeaten Goose Creek (2-1) had fallen to Crab Orchard (2-1), and Villa Del Lago (2-0), Valiente (2-0) and Zacara (2-0) wouldn’t play again until Sunday.
Boasting a roster that fielded former 10-goalers Carlos Gracida and Memo Gracida, the challenge promised to be a formidable one, and hard riding and lightning fast passes were commonplace as the two struggled through a contest that was annoyed by light rainfall.
Carlos Gracida opened the scoring by converting a pair of penalty shots for goals. His brother memo Gracida made it 3-0 with his first goal of the game before Audi managed to find any offensive rhythm. Carlitos Gracida (son of La Herradura’s Carlos Gracida) managed to get Audi in the scoring column with a great individual effort in the final seconds of the first chukker. La Herradura showed great poise as they left the field with an early 3-1 advantage.
Two more penalty goals were registered by Carlos Gracida in the second chukker, with Audi 8-goaler Nic Roldan scoring a single goal. La Herradura extended its lead to three goals, 5-2.
La Herradura continued to stymie the Audi attack into the third period of the game. Defensive backhanders and aggressive ride-offs kept the younger team from scoring. Roldan managed to convert a 60-ayrd penalty shot, but it was sandwiched between two more goals from the field from Carlos Gracida. At the end of the first half, La Herradura held a four goal, 7-3 lead over a struggling Audi attack.
Carlos Gracida opened the second half with a goal from the field as La Herradura extended its lead over Audi to five goals, 8-3, but that was when Audi seemed to come alive. A quicker, more resilient Audi took the field in the fourth chukker. Carlos Gracida scored the first goal if the chukker from the opening throw-in, but Carlitos Gracida and Roldan responded with goals of their own (Roldan converted a penalty shot for a goal). La Herradura continued to lead, but Audi was within striking distance, trailing 8-5 as the chukker ended.
Afoul by La Herradura in the opening seconds of the fifth period sent Roldan to the penalty line once again, where he converted the shot for a goal. Less than a minute later Roldan added a goal from the field. Carlos Gracida closed out the chukker with a 60-yard penalty conversion. La Herradura held the lead at 9-7 with Audi getting stronger as the game wore on.
With the Audi attack ramping up, La Herradura made mistakes, and Roldan took advantage of them. Two penalty conversions from Roldan in the opening two minutes of the final chukker had it all even at nine goals apiece. The game continued to pick up speed as the younger Audi team pressed their veteran opponents. With two minutes left in regulation time, Roldan scored the go ahead goal, giving Audi its first lead of the game. La Herradura struggled to gain control of the ball in the final minute of play, but it was not to be. Roldan drove the ball into the sideboards in the final seconds of the chukker to end the game and deliver the 10-9 victory to Audi.
Nic Roldan was credited with eight goals for Audi, five on penalty shots. Carlitos Gracida added two goals in the win. Carlos Gracida scored eight goals for La Herradura, five on penalty conversions. Memo Gracida added a goal in the loss.
COCA-COLA 14, ORCHARD HILL 13 IN OVERTIME
In earlier action, Coca-Cola trailed by as many as four goals after the second period before rallying for an exciting overtime win in the third round of play in the 2013 Joe Barry Memorial Cup.
Lucas scored the first two goals of the game for Orchard Hill while the Coca-Cola offense was shut down in the opening chukker. The early advantage went to Orchard Hill, 2-0.
Second chukker play opened with a Penalty 1 due to rough riding in the goal mouth. Orchard Hill was awarded a goal and led, 3-0. Criado added another goal to the Orchard Hill total before Coca-Cola was heard from. A single goal from Tommy Collingwood got Coke on the scoreboard, with Criado closing out the scoring with his fourth goal of the game for a comfortable 5-1 lead.
Coca-Cola team captain Gillian Johnston got the third chukker off to a good start for her team by scoring two goals from the field, cutting the Orchard Hill lead to two goals. Once again, Criado scored the final goal of the chukker to move Orchard Hill ahead, 6-3 to end the first half.
A pressing Coca-Cola attack forced Orchard Hill into fouls early in the fourth period of the game. Julio Arellano made good on a pair of penalty shots for goals in the first two minutes of the chukker, cutting the Orchard Hill lead to a single goal, 6-5. Orchard Hill bounced back to score three straight goals to extend its lead to four goals, 9-5, with Criado scoring for the sixth time and Jeff Hall converting a pair of penalty shots for goals. A penalty goal from Arellano in the final two minutes of the period was complimented by a goal from Collingwood. The chukker ended with Orchard Hill defending a two goal lead, 9-7.
Goals from Arellano and Sugar Erskine opened the fifth period for Coca-Cola, tying the game for the first time all day, 9-9. Hall and Mason Wroe countered with single goals to regain a two goal lead, 11-9. Arellano and Hall exchanged single goals to end the chukker with Orchard Hill on top, 12-10.
Coca-Cola took control of the game in the sixth, picking up a penalty goal from Arellano and single goals from the field from Erskine and Collingwood. Orchard Hill managed a single goal from Criado, ending regulation time in a 13-13 deadlock and requiring a sudden-death overtime period to decide the outcome.
After a brief intermission both teams returned to the field on fresh mounts. Early fortune had Orchard Hill knocking on the door of the Coca-Cola goal, but deft defensive plays turned the efforts aside. Coca-Cola had their chances as well, but no luck. A final run down the field in the final minute of the overtime period found Arellano alone with the ball, scoring the winning goal with 18 seconds in regulation time. Coca-Cola (1-2) had managed to fight its way back from an early deficit to post the 14-13 sudden-death win over a disheartened Orchard Hill (1-2) foursome.
Julio Arellano scored seven goals for Coca-Cola on the day, four on penalty shots. Tommy Collingwood, Sugar Erskine and team captain Gillian Johnston scored two goals apiece for the win. Lucas Criado was credited with seven goals for Orchard Hill. Jeff Hall scored four times, twice on penalty shots and Mason Wroe added a goal from the field. A Penalty 1 against Coca-Cola in the second chukker resulted in Orchard Hill being awarded a penalty goal.
CRAB ORCHARD 12, GOOSE CREEK 6
The veteran combination of 9-goaler Mariano Aguerre and 8-goaler Matias Magrini worked some magic Saturday afternoon in the Joe Barry Memorial Cup at the International Polo Club as they charged out to a commanding 7-1 halftime before coasting to a 12-6 win over the previously unbeaten Goose Creek lineup.
Magrini scored twice in the opening chukker with Aguerre adding a goal for the early 3-0 lead.
A pair of goals from University of Virginia senior Felipe Viana in the second chukker extended the Crab orchard lead as Goose Creek struggled to stage any coordinated offense. After two chukkers of play, Crab orchard led, 5-0.
Aguerre and Viana added single goals in the third chukker to put Crab Orchard ahead 7-0 before Goose Creek finally got on the scoreboard. A Crab Orchard foul sent Goose Creek’s Kris Kampsen to the penalty line where he converted the shot for their first goal of the game. The first half ended with Crab orchard sitting atop an impressive 7-1 score.
Second half play was no kinder to Goose Creek as they watched Crab orchard score three consecutive goals while they were unable to find their offense again. For the third chukker in four, Goose Creek was held scoreless and Crab Orchard rode off with a nine goal, 10-1 advantage.
Kampsen scored the first goal of the fifth, but goals from Aguerre and Magrini canceled it out. The Crab orchard lead had grown to ten goals, 12-2 as the chukker ended.
Goose Creek tried desperately to get back into the game in the final chukker. Maureen Brennan and Kampsen scored single goals that went unanswered, and Luis Escobar converted a penalty shot and added a goal from the field. For the first time all afternoon, Crab Orchard (2-1) failed to score, but it was Goose Creek (2-1) that came up on the short end of the 12-6 score.
Kris Kampsen led the Goose Creek attack with seven goals, three on penalty shots. Both of Tommy Biddle’s goals came on penalty conversions and Luis Escobar added a goal in the win. Paco de Narvaez set the pace for ERG with five goals. Jeff Blake was credited with three goals and Wesley Bryan (substituting for an injured Scott Wood at the end of the fourth chukker) added a goal in the loss.
The preliminary rounds of the Joe Barry Memorial Cup will conclude on Sunday at the International Polo Club with four 20-goal matches.
Zacara (2-0) will meet Valiente (2-0) in one of two 10 am games, with Piaget (0-2) facing Lucchese (0-2) in the other morning contest. Lechuza Caracas (0-2) will face Faraway (0-2) at noon, and the stadium feature match will pit Villa Del Lago (2-0) against ERG (1-1).