Hawks Win 2011 Wanderers Classic in 13-8 Final
By Alex Webbe
Jason Crowder scored seven of his teams 13 goals Saturday afternoon as he led the Hawks to a 13-8 win over Lechuza L in the finals of the 14-goal Wanderers Classic at the International Polo Club.
Crowder scored three of the game’s first four goals as he put three goals on the scoreboard in the first chukker of play. Matt Coppola scored the only goal of the opening chukker for Lechuza I on a shot from the field. The Hawks took and early 2-1 lead.
Two goals from the field from Julian Mannix had the Hawks up 5-2 with Lechuza I getting a penalty goal from Gaston Lisioli.
Mannix scored in the third to put the Hawks up 6-2 before Lechuza I rallied. Two goals from the field from Toto Collardin cut the lead to a pair of goals, 6-4, with Lechuza struggling to make up ground.
The Hawks got single goals from Mannix, Crowder and Juan Curbelo in the fourth while holding Lechuza to a pair of goals from Collardin (one from the field and one on a penalty shot). The Hawks stretched its lead to three goals, 9-6.
Crowder was unstoppable in the fifth, scoring twice from the field and converting a penalty shot for another goal. Lisioli’s single goal accounted for all of the Lechuza offense in the chukker, and the period ended with the Hawks sitting on top a commanding 12-7 lead.
Curbelo scored first in the sixth and Lechuza struggled to answer it with a goal from the field from Collardin, but that was all they could muster. The Hawks flew off with the game and the 2011 Wanderers Classic Championship, 13-8.
Despite the loss, Collardin was named MVP while Crowder’s nine-year-old Grey mare, Winsome, was honored as Best Playing Pony.
“It was a great win,†said Crowder. “The whole team was on top of it today,†he added. “Julian had the best game of the season this afternoon, and Diego (Arellano) was awesome. He’ll fall on the sword for you if you ask him. And Juan pulls it all together for us.â€