By Alex Webbe
Catamount staves off last chukker Santa Clara rally to record a 14-13 win in 16-goal Everglades Classic competition at the International Polo Club in Wellington Tuesday afternoon.
Seven goals were scored in the opening chukker as Catamount squared off against Santa Clara. Nick Roldan opened the scoring with a 60-yard penalty conversion for Catamount, 1-0. Santa Clara responded with a goal from the field from Carlos Avendano and a penalty goal from Carlucho Arellano to take a one goal, 2-1 lead. Roldan added a goal from the field to tie it up at 2-2, with Scott Devon’s first goal of the day giving the lead back to Catamount, 3-2. Arellano made it all even at 3-3 with his second goal of the chukker, but a final goal from Kris Kampsen had Catamount back on top, 4-3, as the period ended.
Arellano tied it up, 4-4, in the second with a penalty conversion for a goal, and Pablo Spinacci gave them a one goal lead, 5-4. Roldan’s third goal of the afternoon ended the chukker in a 5-5 deadlock.
Spinacci opened the scoring in the third period with a pair of goals from the field, 7-5. Roldan got Catamount on the scoreboard with a single goal, but Arellano closed out the chukker with his fourth goal of the game for an 8-6 halftime lead for Santa Clara.
A regrouped Catamount team took the field in the fourth and scored four unanswered goals. Kampsen converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal and followed it up with a goal from the field. Roldan drove the ball through the goalposts from 60-yards out on a Safety and Devon added his second goal of the day. At the end of four chukkers, Catamount possessed an envious 10-8 advantage.
Two more goals from Roldan in the fifth ere answered by a 60-yard penalty goal from Spinacci and a goal from the field from Avendano. At the end of the fifth, Catamount continued to hold a two goal, 12-10 lead.
Santa Clara pressed the Catamount defense in the final chukker of play resulting in penalty goals from Francisco Escobar and Arellano. Arellano added another goal from the field, but Catamount capitalized on goals from Devon and Kampsen to secure the 14-13 victory.
Roldan set the pace for Catamount with seven goals (three on penalties). Kampsen scored one penalty goal and added three more from the field for a total of four goals. Catamount team captain, Scott Devon, added three goals in a winning cause.
Arellano accounted for six Santa Clara goals. Spinacci scored four times; Avendano added two goals and Escobar scored once in a losing effort.