Santa Clarita Cup winners-Santa Clara (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
By Whitney Webbe
Santa Clara (Armando Huerta, Tom Blake, Nico Escobar and Federico Escobar) and Merchant Hub (Kaisser Maakar, Max Secunda, Ruben Gracida and Tito Robledo) each scored a win before tying one another in head-on-head in Thursday action. Merchant Hub returned to the field on Saturday with Phillip Higgins and Omar Sosa replacing Kaisser Maakar and Tito Robledo.
Agua Clara (Mauricio Herrera, Wesley Finlayson, Luis Escobar and Richard Dudman) would be looking for their first win of the tournament, having lost matches to both Merchant Hub and Santa Clara on Thursday.
In the opening three chukkers, Santa Clara defeated Agua Clara, 4-3 in a match that could have gone either way. Agua Clara took the early lead on goals from Luis Escobar and Wesley Finlayson. Santa Clara responded with goals from Nico Escobar and Federico Escobar for a 2-2 tie.
Nico Escobar scored the only goal of the second period as Santa Clara edged Agua Clara, 3-2. Mauricio Herrera tied it up at 3-3 for Agua Clara in the third, but a penalty conversion by Armando Huerta gave the game to Santa Clara, 4-3.
MERCHANT HUB 6, AGUA CLARA 3
Agua Clara held the field and took on a talented Merchant Hub lineup. Once again, Agua Clara scored the first goal of the match as Mauricio Herrera got on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of play. Merchant Hub responded with goals from Omar Sosa and Max Secunda, 2-1. Luis Escobar scored the tying goal for Agua Clara to end the chukker, 2-2.
Consecutive goals in the second chukker of the mini-match saw Merchant Hub pick up single goals from Ruben Gracida, Omar Sosa and Max Secunda. Luis Escobar scored the final goal of the chukker for Agua Clara, but Merchant Hub held a 5-3 advantage with one chukker left to play.
Omar Sosa’s third goal of the game was the only offense provided in the third chukker as Merchant Hub celebrated the 6-3 win.
SANTA CLARA 5, MERCHANT HUB 3
Santa Clara’s showdown with Merchant Hub closed out the round-robin with Santa Clara coming out on the winning end of a 5-3 score.
Merchant Hub got opening goals from Ruben Gracida and Phillip Higgins, but that was when the momentum seemed to shift. Nico Escobar scored Santa Clara’s first goal of the day followed by goals from Tom Blake and Federico Escobar. The first chukker ended with Santa Clara in the lead, 3-2.
Tom Blake scored the only goal of the second period as both teams concentrated on defense. Going into the final chukker, Santa Clara held a two goal lead, 4-2.
Nico Escobar pushed the Santa Clara lead to three goals, 5-2, with a third chukker goal. Ruben Gracida scored the final goal of the game as Santa Clara celebrated the 5-3 win.
Nico Escobar was named Most Valuable Player for his efforts over the two-day tournament as he led his team in scoring with seven goals.