White Birch 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa scored eight times in leading White Birch to a 16-12 win over McLaren Greenwich in the opening game of the 2015 East Coast Open.
If you tuned in to Chukker TV Saturday afternoon to watch the opening games of the 2015 East Coast Open at the Greenwich Polo Club (the games were not open to the public) and were expecting soccer-like scores you were sadly disappointed. A total of fifty-eight goals were scored in the course of the two matches with all four teams registering in the double digits.
In a father-son battle in the opening game Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm (Santino Magrini, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant) broke open n 7-7 game with nine second half goals to record the 16-12 win over son Chris Brant’s McLaren Greenwich foursome (Chris Brant, Nick Manifold, Joao Paulo Ganon and Tommy Biddle).
The 19-goal McLaren team received one goal by handicap but Hilario Ulloa quickly leveled the score with the first goal from the field, 1-1. Teammate Mariano Aguerre followed up with a goal to make it 2-1 White Birch. McLaren’s Tommy Biddle hammered a 60-yard penalty shot through the White Birch goalposts for a 2-2 tie and Nick Manifold gave the lead to McLaren with his first goal of the game, 3-2. Aguerre scored the final goal of the first chukker to knot the score at 3-3.
White Birch took control of the second chukker from the onset with Ulloa scoring twice from the field before Santino Magrini got on the scoreboard to make it 6-3, White Birch. Ulloa scored his third goal of the chukker and his fourth of the game to end the second chukker with McLaren trailing by four goals, 7-3.
A regrouped McLaren team took the field in the third period and flexed their collective offensive muscles. Biddle and Joao Ganon opened with goals from the field, 7-5, before Biddle converted a 60-yard penalty shot that cut the lead to a single goal, 7-6. Another goal from Biddle tied the game at 7-7 with McLaren showing no letup. Magrini got the lead back for White Birch with a single goal for an 8-7 lead, but a powerful goal from the field from Biddle had the teams leaving the field at the end of the first half in an 8-8 tie.
Aguerre reorganized the White Birch team at halftime and reappeared with a fresh look for the fourth chukker. Ulloa opened the scoring with a 40-yard penalty goal followed by a goal from the field from Aguerre. Two more goals from Ulloa and shutout defense had McLaren trailing by four goals, 12-8, after four periods.
The pace quickened in the fifth with both teams shooting wide on goal shots. Ulloa and Ganon traded goals that kept White Birch ahead by four goals, 13-9. Aguerre’s fourth goal of the game extended the White Birch lead to five goals, 14-9.
Aguerre opened the scoring in the sixth period with a goal from the field. 15-9. Back-to-back goals from Biddle had McLaren within four goals of the lead, 15-11, but time was on the side of White Birch. Aguerre scored again, running the score up to 16-11. Biddle ended the game with a 60-yard penalty goal in a 16-12 McLaren loss.
Ulloa led the White Birch attack with eight goals (two on penalty conversions). Aguerre scored six times and Magrini was credited with a pair of goals for the win. Biddle scored half of his team high eight goals on penalty conversions. Ganon scored twice and Manifold chipped in a goal in the loss.
Airstream 17, Turkish Airlines 13
There was no shortage of scoring in the second match of the day as Airstream (Peter Orthwein, Guille Aguero, Matias Magrini and Michel Dorignac) powered past a game Turkish Airlines foursome (Bruce Colley/Joe Meyer, Joaquin Panelo, Tomas Garcia del Rio and Stevie Orthwein) 17-13.
Airstream spotted the 17-goal Turkish Airlines team three goals to start, and a 40-yard penalty conversion by Argentine 8-goaler Tomas Garcia del Rio had them in the lead 4-0. Airstream countered with goals from Matias Magrini and Michel Dorignac (30-Yard penalty shot). Airstream trailed Turkish Airlines 4-2 after the first chukker.
The Airstream attack exploded for six goals in second chukker play. Single goals from Magrini and Guille Aguero were complimented by four goals from Dorignac (three on penalty conversions) for n 8-6 advantage. Del Rio scored twice (once on a penalty shot) for Turkish Airlines. The second period ended with Airstream on top, 8-6.
Del Rio cut the Airstream lead to a single goal with the opening score of the third chukker, 8-7, but that would be as close as they would get. Consecutive goals from Dorignac, Aguero and Magrini stretched the lead to four goals, 11-7. Joaquin Panelo scored on a pass from del Rio, 11-8. Aguero and del Rio exchanged goals to close out the first half with Airstream in front, 12-9.
Del Rio and Magrini each scored a pair of goals in fifth period action (one from the field and one on a penalty shot from each of them). The fifth chukker ended with Airstream holding on to their three goal lead, 14-11.
Aguero added two more goals in the final chukker with teammate Dorignac converting another penalty shot for a goal. Del Rio responded with a pair of penalty goals for the 17-13 Airstream win.
Del Rio led the field with nine goals (six on penalty shots). Panelo added a goal and the team received three goals on handicap. Dorignac scored five of his seven goals on penalty conversions. Magrini and Aguero were credited with five goals apiece in the victory.
First round action in the 2015 East Coast Open continues on Sunday at the Greenwich Polo Club with a 3pm match between Audi (Marc Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Nic Roldan and Miguel Novillo Astrada) and KIG (Bash Kazi, Valerio Zubiaurre, Mariano Obregon and Pelon Escapite),
The game will be aired live on Chukker TV (ChukkerTV.com) with play-buy-play and color commentary by Dale Schwetz and Toby Wayman. Chukker TV will continue to cover all preliminary and semifinal games of the 2015 East Coast Open with NBC Sports broadcasting the tournament final on Sunday, September 13th, a week after the September 6th final.