Fifteen-year-old Peke Gonzalez scored eight goals as Northern Trust beat Pony Espress, 18-14 in the 2015 12-goal Limited Edition Series at the Grand Champions Polo Club.
(Photo by Alex Pacheco)
In an explosion of goals, Northern Trust (Maureen Brennan, Peke Gonzalez, Mariano Gonzalez and Steve Krueger) held on to record an 18-14 win over Pony Express (Justin Daniels, Bob Daniels, Tomas Goti and Julian de Lusarreta) Tuesday afternoon in the 12-goal Limited Edition Series at Grand Champions Polo Club.
Julian Lusarreta scored the first goal of the game for Pony Express, 1-0, before watching the Northern Trust team take control of the game. In an impressive father-son display, Mariano and his fifteen-year-old son Peke scored five consecutive goals to take the early 5-1 lead. Peke scored three times and Mariano added two goals in first chukker play.
Pony Express charged out of the gate in the second period. Goals from the field from de Lusarreta and Tomas Goti cut the Northern Trust down to two goals, 5-3, when the Gonzalez duo struck again. Mariano Gonzalez converted a penalty shot for a goal followed by two more goals from Peke Gonzalez. At the end of the second chukker Northern Trust had stretched their lead to five goals, 8-3.
For the third consecutive chukker Pony Express got on the scoreboard first. Goti scored the first three goals of the period to cut the lead back to just two goals, 8-6. Steve Krueger scored the final goal of the first half, pushing the Northern Trust lead to three goals, 9-6.
A regrouped Pony Express foursome stormed the field in the fourth chukker and opened with a pair of goals from the field from Goti, cutting the lead to a single goal, 9-8. De Lusarreta’s third goal of the game had it all even at 9-9 when the Gonzalez duo got back to work. Mariano Gonzalez scored Northern Trust’s first goal of the chukker to take back the lead, 10-9.Peke Gonzalez padded the score with a goal of his own that ended the period with Northern Trust on top, 11-9.
Krueger scored the opening goal of the fifth chukker, 12-9, when Pony Express rallied again. Consecutive goals from Goti had them within a goal of the lead, 12-11. Northern Trust fired back with single goals from Peke Gonzalez and Mariano Gonzalez for a three goal advantage, 14-11. Goti tallied the final goal of the chukker, but it was Northern Trust with the two goal, 14-12 edge.
Mariano Gonzalez took the lead in the final chukker, scoring the first goal from the field and following it up with a penalty conversion that put Northern Trust in the lead, 16-12. Goti scored on a penalty conversion for Pony, 16-13, but goals from Peke Gonzalez and Krueger had Northern Trust in a commanding position as time was running out. Goti managed the final goal of the game but it was Northern Trust celebrating the 18-14 victory.
Goti led all scoring with eleven goals on the day (one on a penalty shot). De Lusarreta added three goals in a losing effort. Peke Gonzalez scored all of his team-high eight goals from the field. Mariano Gonzalez scored seven times (twice on penalty shots) and Krueger chipped in three scores for the win.
Ply continues in the Limited Edition 12-goal on Thursday, January 15th with a 3:30PM contest between Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, Agustin Arellano, Brandon Phillips and Tommy Biddle) and the Aspen Valley Polo Club (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Wes Finlayson and Mark Tomlinson). Aspen Valley will be leaning on the veteran leadership of English internationalist Mark Tomlinson in their tournament debut. Palm Beach Polo rides into the game with a 1-0 record after beating SD Farms, 13-8 on Saturday.