The 2014 defending Waterbury Cup championship White irch Farm team (L to R-Peter Brant, Mariano Aguerre, Hilario Ulloa and Santino Magrini).
The 2015 Monty Waterbury Cup finally got underway Saturday morning at the Greenwich Polo Club after rains and wet fields delayed competition for a week. Tupungato (Luis Rinaldini, Nick Manifold, Joao Paulo Ganon and Tommy Biddle) rebounded from a tournament opening loss to even Airstream’s (Peter Orthwein, Guille Aguero, Mariano Gonzalez and Michel Dorignac) record at 1-1 in a 13-8 beat down.
Tupungato received one goal by handicap from the 19-goal Airstream team and added to it with a penalty goal for the first score of the game to make it 2-0. Airstream answered back with goals from Peter Orthwein and Mariano Gonzalez. A goal from the field from Tommy Biddle had Tupungato riding off the field at the end of the first chukker with a narrow 3-2 lead.
Biddle converted a penalty shot from 30-yrds out in second period play for a 4-2 edge. Gonzalez scored on a 40-yard penalty shot and teammate Michel Dorignac tied it at 4-4 with is first goal of the game. Biddle scored the final goal of the chukker, keeping Tupungato in the lead, 5-4.
Biddle and Guille Aguero traded goals from the field as third period action heated up, 6-5. Nick Manifold added a goal from the field and a penalty goal from Biddle had Tupungato on top of an 8-5 halftime score.
Dorignac and Joao Ganon exchanged goals in the fourth, 8-6. Gonzalez scored to end the chukker with Tupungato continuing to lead, 9-7.
The fifth chukker belonged to Tupungato as the defense shut down the Airstream attack and Manifold, Biddle (penalty conversion) and Ganon each added a goal. With one period left in regulation time, Tupungato owned a five goal lead, 12-7.
Biddle scored his seventh goal of the game on a penalty gal in the sixth. Airstream matched the goal but came up on the short end of a 13-8 score.
Biddle led all scoring with seven goals (four on penalty conversions). Ganon and Manifold scored two goals apiece and Rinaldini scored once for the win. Dorignac and Gonzalez each scored three times for Airstream. Orthwein and Aguero added single goals in the loss.
White Birch Farm 11, Shreve, Crump & Low 9
Shreve, Crump & Low (Ricky Mershad, Joaquin Panelo, Matias Magrini and Kris Kampsen) received two goals by handicap from White Birch Farm (Santino Magrini, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant) but fell behind in the opening chukker as White Birch Farm peppered the Shreve, Crump & Low goal for four scores. Hilario Ulloa scored twice (once on a penalty shot) with Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant adding single goals for the 4-2 lead.
Second chukker goals from Ulloa and Brant (penalty conversion) were complimented by shutout defense that extended the White Birch Farm lead to four goals, 6-2.
Santino Magrini added a goal for White Birch Farm in the third while Kris Kampsen scored twice for Shreve, Crump & Low. After three periods of play, White Birch Farm continued to lead, 7-4.
Santino Magrini and Brant each added a goal to the White Birch Farm total in the fourth period. Shreve, Crump & Low countered with goals from Kampsen, Ricky Mershad (substituting for Chris Brant) and Joaquin Panelo. Shreve, Crump & Low had cut the lead to just two goals, 9-7.
Both defenses stepped it up in the fifth with neither team being able to score from the field. Brant converted a 30-yard penalty shot for a goal and a 10-7 lead. Mershad added two more goals in the sixth with Aguerre responded with his second score on the day in an 11-9 White Birch Farm win.
Brant led all scoring with four goals (three on penalty shots). Ulloa accounted for three goals and White Birch Farm got two goals each from Aguerre and Santino Magrini for the victory. Kampsen and Mershad each scored three goals. Panelo scored once and the team received two goals by handicap.