By Alex Webbe
There were four ties and the lead changed hands three times before Barrington scored the last three goals of the game to defeat Orchard Hill, 15-12, to win the 2010 Monty Waterbury Cup at the 302 Polo club in Aiken, South Carolina.
Orchard Hill received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal Barrington team, and added to it on an opening goal from Chris Stratemann to make it 2-0.
Barrington rallied with three unanswered goals from Tommy Biddle, Julio Arellano and Antonio Galvan, ending the chukker with a narrow 3-2 advantage.
Barrington stormed the field in the second period, outscoring Orchard Hill four goals to two. Barb Uskup got her first goal of the game while Biddle added a pair and Galvan collected his second goal of the game.
Roldan accounted for both of Orchard Hill’s goals on penalty shots. Barrington led, 7-4.
“We came out strong,” said Biddle, “because we knew that it was going to be a difficult game.”
Orchard Hill re-established its attack in the third chukker, getting three straight goals from Roldan to tie it at 7-7. Arellano put Barrington back on top with a goal from the field. The chukker ended with Barrington taking an 8-7 lead to the sidelines with them as the first half ended.
Stratemann’s second goal of the game knotted it at 8-8 as the fourth period got underway, and another goal from Roldan had Orchard Hill ahead, 9-8. Lucas Criado’s first goal of the game made it 10-8, Orchard Hill before Biddle broke the Barrington scoring drought with a goal from the field. Roldan closed out the scoring with his second goal of the chukker. Orchard Hill left the field with an 11-9 edge.
“We got into trouble when we started tapping the ball,” said Biddle. “When we hit away, we were fine.”
Stratemann gave Orchard Hill a 12-9 lead with the opening goal of the fifth chukker but three straight Barrington goals (one from Biddle and two from Arellano) had it all even at 12-12 when the period ended.
The sixth chukker belonged to Barrington, getting a pair of goals from Arellano and a single goal from Galvan while shutting out the Orchard Hill attack. Final score, Barrington 15, Orchard Hill 12.
“We marked them closely throughout the game,” said Biddle, “We knew that they were a tough team, and we knew that we couldn’t let them run loose.”
A couple of mistakes at the end and a continuing offensive pressure gave the game to Barrington.
“We beat ourselves,” said Stratemann. “I gave up a goal myself on a bad knock-in. We had our opportunities; we just didn’t connect when we needed to.”
For all his apologies, Stratemann was named MVP. Lucas Criado’s 11-year-old Bay mare was named Best Playing Pony.
Steve Van Andel took MVP honors in the amateur category. His 9-year-old chestnut mare took Best Playing Pony honors in the Amateur category.
High-goal action will continue on Thursday, October 7 with the first round of the 2010 USPA Silver Cup. Orchard Hill will return to the field at 2 pm against Golden Zebra while Pony Express will face a new 19-goal entry in Winfield (Rick Hartnett, Kris Kampsen, Luis Escobar and Willie Hartnett).