By Alex Webbe
Valiente rang up a 9-5 lead in the fifth chukker before a late rally gave Mt. Brilliant the 10-9 win in the opening game of the 2011 Iglehart at the International Polo Club in Wellington Saturday morning.
Valiente 8-goaler Jeff Hall scored the first two goals of the game before Mt. Brilliant responded with a goal from the field from Mike Azzaro.
Nic Roldan scored a pair of goals to open the second, giving Mt. Brilliant a 3-2 lead until Toto Collardin evened it up at 3-3, with a goal for Valiente.
Hall converted 60-yard and 40-yard penalty shots for goals and Santiago Bottaro added a goal from the field for Valiente in the third chukker. Roldan converted a penalty shot for a goal for Mt. Brilliant as they found themselves trailing Valiente 6-4 as the first half ended.
A Valiente foul in the early goings of the fourth chukker allowed Roldan another opportunity to score, which he did, but goals from Bottaro and Hall kept Valiente ahead by three goals, 8-5.
Bottaro’s third goal of the game opened the fifth period and extended the Valiente lead to four goals, 9-5, but that was when the wheels started coming off of the wagon. A realigned Mt. Brilliant lineup moved Azzaro to the front end of the attack, and invigorated the offense. Ulysses Escapite, now firing from the back end of the lineup, scored a goal from the field, followed by three consecutive penalty goals from Roldan. The chukker ended in a 9-9 tie, and it was evident that the momentum had shifted.
Both defenses tightened in the final period of play as Valiente tried to take control of the game back, but it would be Escapite who would score the winning goal for Mt. Brilliant while the Valiente attack was unable to score in the final minutes of play.
Roldan set the pace for Mt. Brilliant with seven goals (five of them on penalty shots). Escapite scored twice and Azzaro accounted for a single goal in the win.
Hall accounted for five Valiente goals. Bottaro scored three times and Collardin added a goal.