MVP Mason Wroe with the ball for Tonkawa. Tonkawa rode off with the 8-7 win and a date in the final of the Bobby Barery Cup at the International Polo Club Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Tonkawa (Lucas Arellano, Gonzalo Deltour, Sebastian Merlos and Mason Wroe) became the first team to qualify for a semifinal berth in the Bobby Barry Cup, a subsidiary of the 20-goal Joe Barry Memorial Cup, with an 8-7 win over Orchard Hill (Donavan Stratemann, Polito Pieres, Peke Gonzalez and Lucas Criado) Sunday afternoon at the International Polo Club.
The game got off to a guarded start with the first goal of the day coming three minutes into the match on a shot from the field from Lucas Criado. Shots went wide or were blocked as both teams pressed to get on the scoreboard. Tonkawa leveled the score at 1-1 with a 30-yard penalty conversion from Argentine 9-goaler Sebastian Merlos and 52 seconds left in the period.
The pace picked up in the second chukker but goals continued to be at a premium. Neither team was able to score from the field. The only goal of the chukker came on a 60-yard penalty conversion from Gonzalo Deltour with 1:34 on the clock. After two periods of play Tonkawa was defending a delicate 2-1 lead.
Facundo Pieres scored on a 30-yard penalty shot in the opening minute of the third period to level the score at 2-2. Deltour countered with a penalty goal of his own that gave the lead back to Tonkawa, 3-2. Lucas Arellano scored his first goal of the game at the 3:17 mark as Tonkawa extended their lead to two goals, 4-2. Pieres responded with consecutive goals (one on a penalty shot) that tied the score at 4-4. Mason Wroe scored his first goal of the match with under a minute to play, giving Tonkawa a narrow 5-4 halftime advantage.
Deltour’s third goal of the day, and first from the field, came with just 40 seconds off of the clock, but that was where both offenses stalled. Tonkawa had a 60-yard penalty shot blocked and saw a 30-yard penalty shot on goal go wide. Neither team was able to score over the duration of the period with Tonkawa stretching their lead to two goals, 6-4.
Orchard Hill went after Tonkawa from the opening throw-in and took advantage of a pair of defensive fouls that sent Pieres to the penalty line. Two 30-yard penalty conversions later had the score tied again, 6-6. Tonkawa rallied for the final two goals of the chukker with Deltour scoring with 2:11 left in the period and Merlos adding his second goal of the game to move in front by two goals, 8-6.
An aggressive Orchard Hill team rode onto the field for the final chukker with a sense of purpose as they launched attack on the Tonkawa goal. Pieres finally scored on a backhanded pass from teammate Criado, but that would be as close as they would get. Merlos took control of the ball late in the game, ate up time and knocked it over the sideboards as the clock continued to run. Orchard Hill battled but time was on Tonkawa’s side with fie final horn sounding for an 8-7 Tonkawa win and a spot in the Bobby Barry Cup final against the winner of Monday’s match between La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Joao Paulo Ganon, Ruki Baillieu and Tommy Collingwood) and Audi/Millarville (Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Julian Mannix and Freddie Mannix.
Deltour led the Tonkawa team with four goals. Merlos added two goals and Arellano and Wroe each scored a goal. Pieres scored a game-high six goals (four on penalty conversions) for Orchard Hill in his first appearance of the year. Criado was credited with Orchard Hill’s other goal in a losing effort.
Mason Wroe was named MVP while Tonkawa Farm’s “Cookie”, played by Lucas Arellano, earned Best Playing Pony honors.
The International Polo Club has two additional 20-goal games on Monday as four teams will battle in to decide the finalists of the Joe Barry Memorial Cup.
The undefeated Enigma team (Jerome Wirth, Jeff Hall, Matias MacDonough and Carlucho Arellano) is scheduled to meet Palm Beach Illustrated (Nacho Badiola, Jared Zenni, Facundo Obregon and Jesse Bray) in a 2:30 bout while Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Carlos Gracida, Diego Cavanagh and Alejo Taranco) will face Villa del Lago (Jim Zenni, Guille Aguero, Hilario Ulloa and Agustin Obregon) in a 3:30 contest.