By Alex Webbe
A sunny day and a near-capacity crowd greeted the Zacara and Equuleus polo teams Sunday afternoon as they took the field for the finals of the 2011 Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club, but it would be a balanced Zacara attack that would take the day as they handed Equuleus just its second loss of the season in an 8-6 victory
Equuleus took an early 1-0 lead after a penalty conversion from 6-goaler Marianito Obregon, but that was all the offense either team could come up with in the first chukker.
Jeff Blake opened the second period with a goal, followed by a penalty conversion for a goal from Gonzalo Del Tour. Obregon scored again for Equuleus, but Zacara responded with a goal from Lyndon Lea to close out the scoring. Zacara rode off with a 3-2 lead.
Mariano Gonzalez put up two goals in the third for Equuleus as they battled back. The first was a well-placed cut shot from just off the backline for a goal followed by a long run for a second score. The first half ended with Equuleus on top of a 4-3 score.
Goals from Zacara team captain Lea and Del tour were complimented by lights-out defense, tying the game at 4-4 and then taking a 5-4 lead.
The momentum had shifted, and try as they might, Equuleus could do little about it. Blake scored his second goal of the game followed by a score from Mariano Uranga, and Zacara found themselves holding a 7-4 lead as the fifth chukker ended.
Uranga’s second goal of the game put Zacara ahead by four goals as a desperate Equuleus team fought for a score. Gonzalez finally came through for Equuleus with a pair of goals, but there was no time left on the clock. Zacara coasted to the 806 final win and the 2011 Ylvisaker Cup Championship.
Gonzalez led all scoring with four goals. Teammate Obregon added two goals in the loss.
The balanced Zacara attack had all four members of the team, Uranga, Lea, Del Tour and Blake, scoring a pair of goals.
Uranga and Blake were named Co-MVPs while Lyndon Lea’s Magdalena was named Best Playing Pony.
ERG TAKES HAAS CUP IN 9-5 WIN OVER FARAWAY
Goals from Julio Arellano and Tomas Garcia Del Rio gave Faraway an early 2-1 lead in the finals of the 20-goal Haas Cup earlier in the day, but Paco de Narvaez scored the first of his seven goals on a 60-yard penalty shot as ERG went on to capture the Haas Cup in a 9-5 win.
Julio Gracida opened the second to give Faraway a 3-1 lead, but that would be the end of their dominance in the game. Goals from de Narvaez and Jason Crowder tied the game at 3-3 before de Narvaez’s third goal of the game gave ERG a 4-3 lead.
De Narvaez got hot in the third chukker, and Faraway got cold. Two goals from the field from de Narvaez were followed by a penalty goal of the Argentine 9-goaler to extend ERG’s lead to four goals at the end of the first half, 7-3.
The pace continued to accelerate, but missed passes and blocked shots at goal kept the scoring to a minimum. De Narvaez scored ERG’s eighth goal of the contest while Julio Arellano managed to score Faraway’s first goal since the second chukker. The ERG lead stood at four goals, 8-4.
Neither team staged a successful attack in the fifth chukker, with Faraway settling for a single penalty goal. Faraway had cut the Zacara lead, but only by a single goal, and continued to trail 8-5.
Crowder scored the only goal of the final chukker for the 9-5 ERG win as an impotent Faraway attack was held to just two goals in the second half of play.