By Alex Webbe
In polo, as in all other sports, you have some days when things just don’t go your way, when the ball doesn’t bounce your way, when you can’t seem to get a break, such was the case Thursday afternoon when Lechuza manhandled the Hawks, 11-7, in the semifinals of the 2011 C. V. Whitney Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
“They (the Hawks) are a very strong team,” said Lechuza coach, Roberto Gonzalez. “But sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way,” said the Mexican 6-goaler. “It can happen to any team,” Gonzalez added, “I’ve played in games like this.”
Gonzalez was referring to a number of shots that the Hawks took at goal that either just missed or were brushed aside in a defensive move by the Lechuza players.
One of Hawks first shots at goal came on a 60-yard penalty conversion attempt by 7-goaler Mariano Gonzalez, which went wide. This was the first harbinger of bad news for the Hawks.
Ten-goaler Juan Martin Nero notched Lechuza’s first goal of the game in a low scoring 1-0 first chukker.
Single goals from the Mannix brothers, Freddie and Julian, had the Hawks on top in the second, 2-1, but the lead was short-lived. Two goals from Sapo Caset and a goal from the field from Martin Espain gave Lechuza a 4-2 lead, a lead they would never surrender.
Shutout defense and three more goals in the third (Matt Coppola, Nero and Espain) had Lechuza ahead by five goals, 7-2, at the end of the first half.
The Hawks continued to suffer bad luck in the fourth, when after putting up shutout defense that kept Lechuza off the scoreboard, they were only able to score one goal (a penalty shot by Gonzalez), cutting the lead to four goals, 7-3.
Two goals from Caset were answered with three goals from the Hawks in the fifth chukker as Hawks’ 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre scored twice from the field and Gonzalez converted another penalty goal. The Hawks had cut the Lechuza lead to only three goals, 9-6.
Gonzalez scored the final goal for the Hawks on a 40-yard penalty conversion, but goals from Coppola and Espain gave Lechuza the 11-7 win and a trip to Sunday’s Whitney Cup finals.