Circa wins Freebooters Classic; Yellow Cab drives off with Sawgrass Challenge Title
By Alex Webbe
Tomas Garcia del Rio scored the first three goals of the game and led his Circa team to a commanding 11-5 win over Villa de Lago Sunday morning in the finals of the 2011 Sawgrass Challenge at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
The showdown between the two teams was a rematch of their February 5 meeting that had Villa de Lago ringing up an 8-7 victory. This time, it was different. In their last meeting it was Villa de Lago that charged out to a 5-1 halftime lead while Circa struggled to find an offense. On Sunday, the tables were turned.
Following a 3-1 opening chukker (Villa de Lago received one goal by handicap), Circa completely dominated play throughout the game.
“Not to take anything away from Circa,†said Villa de Lago team captain Jim Zenni, “but we layed our worst game of the season. We just didn’t seem to do anything right.â€
Garcia del Rio added two more goals to the Circa total in the second chukker and Martin Pepa added a goal as well. Carlucho Arellano answered with a goal from Villa de Lago. The score stood at 6-2, Circa.
A scoreless third chukker had Villa de Lago scratching their heads at halftime while the Circa team smelled the blood in the water.
Tomas Obregon converted a pair of 60-yard penalty shots for goals while Martin Pepa scored a goal from the field for Circa. Villa de Lago manage to cut into the Circa lead, but still trailed 7-4.
Garcia del Rio provided all of the scoring in the fifth chukker with a goal from the field. Villa de Lago was shutout for the third time in the game, and had little success organizing an effective attack.
Two more goals from Garcia del Rio and a goal from Carlitos Gracida gave Circa eleven goals on the day.
Carlucho scored his second goal of the contest as Villa de Lago watched helplessly as Circa rode off with an 11-5 win.
Tomas Garcia del Rio led all scoring with eight goals and earned MVP honors. Carlucho Arellano’s Barbie was named Best Playing Pony.
YELLOW CAB CAPTURES SAWGRASS CHALLENGE 15-9
It was all give and take in the first half of the game, with Yellow Cab taking an early 3-2 led on a pair of penalty conversions for goals by Frankie Bilbao and a goal from the field for Guille Usandizaga. Brandon Phillips responded for Willow/Blanco with a couple of first chukker goals.
Bilbao and Usandizaga each added a goal in the second for Yellow Cab, but Phillips answered with three goals to knot it up at 5-5 as the second chukker ended.
Philips and Usandizaga exchanged goals in the third, and the teams left the field at halftime deadlocked at 6-6.
The fourth chukker was the beginning of the end for Willow/Blanco. Goals from Bilbao, Simon Garber and Sean Garber had Yellow Cab ahead, 10-7, as Phillips scored Willow/Blanco’s only goal of the chukker.
Two more goals from Bilbao in the fifth elicited a single goal in response from Phillips, and the Yellow Cab lead stretched to four goals, 12-8.
Three more sixth chukker goals from Yellow Cab ended any rally thoughts as time expired in a 15-9 Willow/Blanco loss.
Bilbao led the Yellow Cab attack with seven goals. Usandizaga scored four times and Simon Garber and son, Sean Garber, scored single goals in the win.
Phillips scored eight of his teams nine goals. Blake scored the other.
Jeff Blake was named MVP while Bilbao’s Yerba Mate received Best Playing Pony honors.
JAN PAMELA/LITTLE OWL 9, MT. BRILLIANT 8 OT
Julian Daniels opened the scoring for Mt. Brilliant with a goal from the field. Joe Wayne Barry retaliated with a goal of his own with Steve Dalton converting a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal and an early 3-1 lead (Jan Pamela/Little Owl received one goal by handicap).
A scoreless second chukker led into a third chukker that had Josh Shelton and Carlitos Gracida scoring for Mt. Brilliant. Dalton converted his second penalty shot of the day, and Jan Pamela/Little Owl left the field at halftime with a narrow 4-3 lead.
Dalton and Barry each added another goal for Jan Pamela/Little Owl with Daniels finally converted another 60-yard penalty shot for a goal. Mt. Brilliant now trailed by two goals, 6-4.
Jan Pamela/Little Owl made it 7-4 on a goal from the field from Wayne Garrison. Gracida and Shelton responded with single goals from the field, cutting the Jan Pamela/Little Owl lead to a single goal after five chukkers, 7-6.
Daniels scored to tie it at 7-7 in the sixth, but Garrison put Jan Pamela/Little Owl back in the lead with another goal. Daniels scored on a short penalty shot, however, and the chukker ended in an 8-8 stalemate and both teams prepared for the sudden-death overtime.
Both teams struggled for control of the ball in the overtime chukker, but offense was at a premium. Dalton finally managed to elude the Mt. Brilliant defense long enough to score his fourth goal of the game and land the overtime victory, 9-8.