Equuleus
outlasts KIG 7-5 in Hampton Cup Play
By Alex Webbe
“It was just
one of those kinds of games,†said MVP Kris Kampsen after his Equuleus team eked
out a 7-5 win over KIG in first round action at the Bridgehampton Polo Club’s
2011 Hampton Cup.
“They (KIG) must
have had over a dozen knock-ins,†Kampsen added, indicating the number of times
he and his Equuleus teammates shot at the KIG goal and missed.
Action
started slow, with both teams focusing on defense, and didn’t pick up too much
after a scoreless opening chukker.
Kampsen had an opportunity to score early but missed a 40-yard penalty
shot. “I just shanked it,†he said.
Kampsen
scored twice from the field in the second while the Equuleus defense held KIG
to a single goal from Luis Escobar.
After two chukkers Equuleus guarded a narrow 2-1 lead.
Michele
Dorignac put KIG ahead, 3-2 in the third, scoring twice from the field. Kampsen nailed the final goal of the chukker,
however, and the teams left the field at the end of the first half in a 3-3
deadlock.
“We had a
couple of opportunities,†said Escobar. “We
had our chances but just didn’t convert them.â€
Kampsen put
Equuleus back on top again in the fourth with a penalty conversion while
shutting down the KIG attack, and the low-scoring affair continued with
Equuleus boasting an anemic 4-3 advantage going into the fifth period of play.
KIG came
alive in the fifth chukker getting a tying goal from Nacho Figueras, 4-4, and a
go-ahead goal from Dorignac, 5-4.
Kampsen came to the rescue once again with his fifth goal of the game
and knotted it up at 5-5 as the period ended.
A sixth
chukker goal from Kampsen had Equuleus on top, 6-5, as KIG pressed its
attack.
“We came so
close to tying it up,†said Escobar. “The
ball actually hit the goal posts and sat there, a foot away from the goal line
before it was cleared,†he said.
A reverse of
fortunes resulted in Mariano Gonzalez carrying the ball down the field for the
final goal of the game, giving Equuleus the 7-5 win.
Kampsen led
all scorers with six goals for Equuleus and received MVP honors for his
efforts. Gonzalez added a single goal in
the victory.
Dorignac
scored three times for KIG. Figueras and
Escobar added single goals in a losing effort.
Escobar’s Julieta was named Best Playing Pony.