Santga Clara’s Nico Escobar scored three goals on the day.
By Whitney Webbe
Merchant Hub (Kaisser Maakar, Tito Robledo, Max Secunda and Ruben Gracida) and Santa Clara (Armando Huerta, Tom Blake, Nico Escobar and Federico Escobar) were tied at the end of the opening day of the 2013 Santa Clarita Cup three team round-robin at the Santa Clara Polo Club Thursday afternoon. Merchant Hub rang up a 6-3 win over Agua Clara (Mauricio Herrera, Wes Finlayson, Luis Escobar and Richard Dudman) and then tied Santa Clara in a 2-2 deadlock. Santa Clara picked up its only win of the day at the expense of Agua Clara in a 4-3 squeaker and then tied Merchant Hub.
Action began with Merchant Hub’s Max Secunda scoring the opening goal of the game followed by a goal from teammate Ruben Gracida for a 3-1 lead (Merchant Hub received one goal by handicap from the 9-goal Agua Clara lineup. Wes Finlayson got Agua Clara on the scoreboard before Gracida’s second goal ended the chukker with Merchant comfortably in the lead, 4-1.
Mauricio Herrera cut the Merchant Hub lead to two goals, 4-2 to open the second period. Gracida scored the final goal of the chukker as Merchant Hub maintained their three goals lead, 5-2.
Both defenses were resolute in the final chukker of the first round of play in the round-robin. Single goals by Kaisser Maakar and Luis Escobar ended the mini-game with Merchant Hub chalking up the 6-3 victory.
MERCHANT HUB 2, SANTA CLARA 2
Merchant Hub held the field for the next three chukkers as Santa Clara made their opening appearance. A goal from Nico Escobar gave Santa Clara the early lead, but it was short lived. Tito Robledo matched it with a goal for Merchant Hub for a 1-1 tie.
Armando Huerta gave Santa Clara a lead in the second period, 2-1, with Robledo tying it up at 2-2 with his second goal of the day.
The two teams played through a scoreless final chukker and ended up in a 2-2 tie.
SANTA CLARA 4, AGUA CLARA 3
Santa Clara closed out the day with a narrow 4-3 win over Agua Clara with Nico Escobar leading the charge with two goals.
Neither team was able to get their offense on track in the opening minutes of play. Armando Huerta scored the only goal of the opening chukker for an early 1-0 lead.
Federico Escobar scored to move Santa Clara out in front, 2-0 in second period play. Wes Finlayson scored a goal from the field to cut the Santa Clara lead to a single goal, 2-1.
Mauricio Herrera tied it up at 2-2 in the third period. Nico Escobar responded with back to back goals for Santa Clara as they moved in front, 4-2. Finlayson scored the final goal of the game but it would be Santa Clara on the winning end of a 4-3 score.
Tournament play will continue at the Santa Clara Polo Club on Saturday with an 11AM round robin to decide the tournament winner.
The Santa Clara Polo Club is located at 12301 50th Street South, there is no charge for admission and the public is invited to attend.