By Alex Webbe
Barrington (1-0) strengthened its chances of taking both 20-goal tournaments Sunday afternoon in the 2010 USPA Silver Cup tournament at the 302 Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina as it rode past a determined Pony Express (0-2) team 13-11.
“They’re a good team,” said Barrington’s Tommy Biddle. “They put a lot of pressure on us, but when we marked our men and hit away, we seemed to have the upper hand.”
Barrington jumped out to a 3-1 first chukker lead, getting a pair of goals from Antonio Galvan and a single goal from Biddle. Michel Dorignac accounted for the sole Pony Express score.
The teams traded goals in the second frame, with Biddle picking up a couple of goals (one from the field, the other on a 60-yard penalty conversion)and Julio Arellano scoring his first goal of the game for Barrington while Pony Express got two goals from Dorignac and another from Tiger Kneece. At the end of the chukker, Barrington maintained a two goal lead, 6-4.
Tomas Goti scored on a penalty shot for Pony Express, and got another goal from the field in the third chukker to tie it up at 6-6. Barrington fought back, and took the lead, once again, on a goal from Biddle. Kneece rounded out the first half scoring with his second goal of the match, knotting it up at 7-7 after the first three chukkers of play.
A rejuvenated Barrington team took the field in the fourth chukker and completely dominated play. Three goals from Arellano and a goal from team captain Barb Uskup were complimented by lights-out defense by a Barrington team that shutout Pony Express and took a commanding 11-7 lead.
“I think the fourth chukker was the turning point in the game,” said Arellano, “We all came out well-mounted and on top of our game,” he added. “I think that was when we took control of the game.”
Biddle added two more goals in the fifth while Pony Express got single goals from Dorignac and Goti. Barrington held a four goal lead after five chukkers, 13-9.
“Pony Express came out ready to go to war in the sixth,” said Arellano. “They pressed us and scored a couple of goals, but we managed to hang on for the win.”
Pony Express got a penalty goal from Goti and a final goal from Kneece, but the die had been cast. Barrington continued its 20-goal campaign without a loss while Pony Express fell to 1-1.
Biddle scored six times for Barrington. Arellano added three goals to the mix with Galvan scoring twice and Uskup scoring once in the win.
Got led the Pony Express attack with four goals. Dorignac and Kneece scored three goals apiece.
WINFIELD 13, GOLDEN ZEBRA 6
Earlier in the day, Rick Hartnett’s Winfield team scored a resounding 13-6 win over a toothless Golden Zebra side that was held to a single goal in the last three chukkers of the game.
Winfield received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal Golden Zebra team and added first chukker goals from Kris Kampsen and Luis Escobar. Julian Daniels converted a 60-yard penalty shot for Golden Zebra and Adam Snow added a goal from the field to trail, 3-2.
Daniels converted his second 60-yard penalty shot of the game to tie it up at 3-3 at the beginning of the second chukker to even it at 3-3 before Winfield answered with consecutive goals from Rick Hartnett and Escobar to recapture the lead. Owen Rinehart ended the scoring in the chukker with a goal from the field. Winfield continued to lead, 5-4.
Winfield got on track again in the third, with goals from Kampsen, Escobar and Willie Hartnett while holding Golden Zebra to a single penalty conversion from Daniels. Winfield extended its lead to three goals, 8-5, to end the first half of play.
Two more goals from Winfield coupled with a well executed defense made it 10-5 after the fourth chukker, as Golden Zebra struggled to find any offense.
Winfield made it 12-5 after the fifth on goals from Kampsen and Willie Hartnett as its defensive efforts kept Golden Zebra off of the scoreboard for the second consecutive period.
Escobar’s fifth chukker of the match (a penalty shot) made it 13-5 as Golden Zebra fought to find an answer to the Winfield defense. Daniels scored the final goal of the match on a Safety, striking the ball through the goal posts from 60-yards out. Winfield evened its record at 1-1 with the 13-6 victory.
”Rick and Willie (Hartnett) played really well today,” said Escobar, who led all scoring in the game with five goals. “They really did the job for us. Kris (Kampsen) and I had great chemistry in the middle of the lineup, and the horses went well,” he added.
USPA Silver Cup play will continue on Tuesday, October 12 with Barrington (1-0) meeting Golden Zebra (0-2) at 11 am while Orchard Hill (1-0) takes on Pony Express (1-1) at 4:30 pm.