White Birch 8-goaler Matias Magrini (Photo courtesy of Alex Pacheco)
White Birch (Del Walton, Joao Ganon, Matias Magrini and Tomas Alberdi) were the first team to qualify for the 2013 Monty Waterbury Cup finals with an 11-7 win over Lechuza (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Juan Martin Nero and Tomas Goti) Wednesday afternoon at the Bridgehampton Polo Club.
A pair of opening goals from Brazilian 7-goaler Joao Ganon were countered by a single score from Mariano Gracida with White Birch holding the 2-1 advantage. Tomas Alberdi closed out the scoring in the first chukker. White Birch left the field with an early 3-1 edge.
Goals were hard to come by in the second frame. Tomas Goti converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal for Lechuza. Ganon kept White Birch in front with his third goal of the game, 4-2.
Lechuza team captain Victor Vargas cut the White Birch lead to a single goal, 4-3, with his first goal of the game, but that would be their only goal of the chukker. Ganon answered back with a 40-yard penalty conversion and a goal from the field. At the end of the first half White Birch was on the winning end of a 6-3 score.
Ganon converted a penalty shot to open the second half followed by a goal from the field from Matias Magrini, 8-3. Goti kept Lechuza from being shutout with a goal from the field. White Birch continued to lead, 8-4.
White Birch started a rally in the fifth chukker. A 60-yard penalty conversion by Goti was followed by a goal from Lechuza 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero, and the lead was cut to two, 8-6. Ganon stopped the slide by scoring on a penalty shot to end the chukker with White Birch in control of a 9-6 score.
Lechuza could manage no more than a single 40-yard penalty conversion from Goti in the final chukker. White Birch got single goals from Del Walton and Alberdi for the 11-7 victory.
Ganon continued to impress, scoring seven times in the match (three on penalty shots). Alberdi scored twice while Walton and Magrini added single goals for the win. Goti scored three of his team-leading four goals on penalty shots. Nero, Gracida and Vargas each scored single goals in a losing effort.
EQUULEUS 13, HEATHCOTE 12 in OT
Mariano Gonzalez scored seven goals on the day, including a 60-yard penalty conversion in overtime to carry Equuleus (Martin Pepa, Magoo Laprida, Mariano Gonzalez and Joe DiMenna) to a come-from-behind 13-12 overtime over Heathcote (Steve Lefkowitz, Naco Taverna, Tommy Biddle and Nick Manifold) for the honor of meeting White Birch in Saturday afternoon’s Monty Waterbury Cup finals at the Bridgehampton Polo Club.
Heathcote received three goals by handicap from the 20-goal Equuleus lineup and quickly added to it. Two goals from Naco Taverna had Heathcote on top of a 5-2 score after the first chukker. Equuleus got single goals from Magoo Laprida and Mariano Gonzalez.
The two teams exchanged goals in the second chukker with Tommy Biddle scoring once from the field and once on a 40-yard penalty conversion. Gonzalez scored twice for Equuleus (once on a penalty shot). Heathcote continued to lead, 7-4.
Goals were at a premium in the third period. Runs up and down the field were turned aside by vigilant defenses. Nick Manifold scored for Heathcote, Martin Pepa answered with a goal for Equuleus. At the end of the first half of play, Heathcote maintained its three goal lead, 8-5.
Heathcote extended its lead to four goals in the fourth chukker. Biddle converted a 40-yard penalty shot and Manifold added a goal from the field. Equuleus was held to a single goal from Pepa, and trailed 10-6 with two chukkers left in regulation time.
Equuleus cut into the Heathcote lead in the fifth chukker, but not by much. Outscoring Heathcote 2-1 they cut the lead back down to three goals. Single goals from Pepa and Gonzalez were met by a penalty goal from Biddle. Going into the sixth chukker, Heathcote was on top, 11-8.
A determined Equuleus team showed up for the final chukker in regulation play. Gonzalez opened the scoring with a short penalty conversion, 11-9. Biddle responded with a goal from the field, 12-9. Equuleus fired off three consecutive goals from Gonzalez, Pepa and team captain Joe DiMenna (penalty conversion) and tied it at 12-12 with time expiring, forcing sudden-death overtime.
In the overtime period, Heathcote fouled in an attempt to halt an Equuleus attack, sending Gonzalez to the penalty line where he converted a 60-yard penalty shot for the 13-12 overtime win.
Gonzalez led all scoring with seven goals (three on penalty shots). Pepa scored four times while Laprida and DiMenna scored single goals in the victory. Biddle set the pace for Heathcote with five goals (three on penalty conversions). Taverna and Manifold scored two goals apiece and the team received three goals by handicap.
The victory launches Equuleus into Saturday afternoon’s finals against White Birch to determine the 2013 Monty Waterbury champion.