Aug. 4th Results . . .
Longfield/Deerfield 10 Heathcote Farm 9
Goals Scored per chukker . . .
Long;Deer 2 0 3 1 3 1 10
Heathcote 11 0 1 1 2 3 9
The notable about this match up was 2 goals by Parker Thorne and 3 goals punched in by Hannah Buchan. This was just a friendly match right up until the trophy/scoreboard thing. Carlucho Arellano was doing a good job warming up for his Sunday show in Saratoga with a game high 6 goals. Henry and Carlos worked very well together as did the brothers Zubiaurre. There were some awesome displays of polo by both squads…great stuff. Oakleigh noted that Heathcote has had a great deal of practice at losing by one….and now they plan on giving the winning by one thing a try for a while to see how that feels. Woody was asking for some handicap consideration in his first 8 goal game back following his broken arm. Heathcote gave that consideration about a second’s thought..a really easy no decision. Welcome back Woody…not a warm welcome…just a welcome…now get back in the throw-in.
Chukker Chatter Aug. 3rd- Newsletter of Mashomack Polo Club by Tom Goodspeed – The thunder and lightning did come by way of mallets and great polo as Mother Nature somehow steered her numerous storms around Pine Plains today. The storms brought overcast skies and cooler temperatures, but they saved their downpours and lightning for surrounding counties. We had six teams arrive with all of their trailers and ponies, all wondering the same. Would their be polo or a long drive home for re-scheduled games on another day. Well…we had polo…with a whole lot of excitement in the two round-robins to decide Sunday’s Constitution Cup Final:
And the winners are………
Two Left Boots and Hawk Hill qualify for the championship finals of the USPA Constitution Cup on Sunday
Round robin #1
Madison Smiles-Ramirez Financial-Two Left Boots
The first challenge was to even get the teams on the field for a 4pm start as the bigger opponent was friday afternoon traffic coming out of the city. So we decided to start off the first segment with Madison Smiles and Two left Boots. This one was all Two Left Boots as they wiped off the smiles on Madison Smiles by a score of 8-2. Fuad’s pro, Manuel Grehan took a mallet in the face in the closing moments of chukker two and was unable to continue. Manuel is ok, but a tad more convinced about the benefit of safety goggles. So without an available substitute, Madison Smiles came back out against Ramirez Financial down a man. Tracey Mactaggart helped generate the right attitude amongst her threesome and they played Ramirez Financial tight in their first chukker. But then Sam Ramirez, Andres Erbetti, Mead Wells, and Glen Miller demonstrated that four almost always beats three in the game of polo as they went on to win 7-3. So the final segment was for one of the two championship berths in Sunday’s finals, and Ramirez Financial and Two Left Boots both wanted it. Abe Stein, Diego Fereira, Felix Martinez, and Chris Green simply wanted it more by a score of 4-1. The shot of the day…no change that…the shot of the week was a great angled backshot off the back line and thru the uprights at a near impossible angle by Sam Ramirez. Diego Fereira was high score with 5 goals, and then Felix Martinez and Sam Ramirez were tied with 4 goals apiece. Abe Stein hit his best shot of the season with a long lofting drive that rolled across the goal line two seconds too late in the final chukker. he may have missed the scoresheet, but he sure hit the you know what out of that ball.
Round robin #2
Heathcote Farm up first against Molasses Hill
Isnt there a saying something about “slower than molasses”. Well everyone today was slower than molasses….slower than Molasses Hill as Doug Palermo, Gregorio Simones, Chip Steigler, and Les Gueren set one fast pace from the get go for a 4 goal level of play. Molasses took the first chukker 2-1. Then Oakleigh’s secret weapon by the name of Ezequiel Zubiaurre scored twice in chukker two, while Heathcote team members held Molasses Hill scoreless to take the first segment 3-2.
So Molasses Hill stayed up against another like it fast kind of a foursome, Hawk Hill. Ernie Ezcurra and Philip Mactaggart joined forces with Jay Mekeel and Osiris Jaques and the sum of their team was greater than their individual parts. Hawk Hill and Mollases Hill were rocking and rolling, but Hawk Hills’ mallets were clicking a bit better as they found the goal three more times than did Molasses Hill by a score of 5-2 at the end of their two.
So the final two chukkers would decide the final championship berth and Heathcote Farm and Hawk Hill were both well aware of that fact as they traded goals back and forth in two very exciting chukkers. Hawk Hill had the one goal edge with 30 seconds left and Heathcote 300 yards away from a score. Heathcote’s young talent, Ezequiel brings in the knock-in and full throttles down field and hits his final shot off the uprights into the goal to tie the games seconds before the buzzer. Now…we are on the back side of summer as the days are getting shorter and darkness was just a few hundred yards away. The two teams quickly found their sudden death horses and returned for the decision goal. They barely had seven minutes left of enough light. would they go the entire chukker? Shoot-out? Continue in the morning? Not to worry. Ernie Ezcurra launched a penalty shot from the spot downfield to teammate Jaques who scored the most important score of the day. Fitting that our two high scorers were Heathcote’s Ezequiel Zubiaurre and Hawk Hill’s Ernie Ezcurra with 5 goals apiece. Parker, Oakleigh, Carlos, and Ezequiel played an olutstanding game. Unfortunately for them, Philip, Ernie, Osiris, and Jay played an outstanding game plus one. An interesting fact about Doug Palermo, was that he helped found the Mashomack Hunting Club. Doug didnt play polo back then…so it was great to have him back up on the Mashomack polo fields for his first time on the polo side of the property.
So Sundays Finals of the USPA Constitution Cup at 1pm
Philip Mactaggart’s Hawk Hill vs Abe Stein’s Two Left Boots….Please note that Two Left Boots are trying for a three-peat with a win this year in this tournament. I am certain that Hawk Hill has no intention of accommodating. Hawk Hill will be looking for their 4th championship here this season with a win on Sunday. One of them will reach their goals….if they are able to score enough goals.