Jan Pamela/Little Owl Takes Cup; Yellow Cab Drives past Mt. Brilliant
The finals of the Jan Pamela Challenge turned into a real barn-burner with Jan Pamela/Little Owl emerging the victor in a 13-12 shootout with a game Willow/Blanco foursome.
Jan Pamela/Little Owl received one goal by handicap from the 12-goal Willow/Blanco team and wasted little time in building a 4-1 lead.
Joe Wayne Barry scored the first goal from the field, and Jan Pamela/Little Owl got two more from 5-goaler Steve Dalton. Tom Sikes accounted for Willow/Blanco’s only goal.
Dalton scored his third goal of the game for Jan Pamela/Little Owl with Brandon Phillips converting a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal for Willow/Blanco. The three goal Jan Pamela/Little Owl lead held after two chukkers, 5-2.
Phillips added two more goals to the Willow/Blanco total. But Dalton kept Jan Pamela/Little Owl from being blanked by adding a goal from the field. The first half ended with Jan Pamela/Little Owl riding off the field with a 6-4 advantage.
“We got off to a strong start,†said Dalton, “but they came right back at us in the second half.â€
Dalton opened the scoring in the second half with a 40-yard penalty shot, but the rest of the chukker belonged to Willow/Blanco. Phillips scored his third penalty goal of the day followed by three unanswered goals from Jeff Blake. The fourth chukker ended with Willow/Blanco leading, 8-7.
“We lost a number of throw-ins in the fourth,†offered Dalton. “They jumped on them and carried the ball down the field for a score.â€
Willow/Blanco went up 9-7 in the fifth on a goal from the field from Blake, but that would be the last offensive damage they would inflict on Jan Pamela/Little Owl. Barry scored twice and Dalton converted a pair of penalty shots for goals and added another from the field. The chukker ended with Jan Pamela/Little Owl holding a 12-9 lead.
“We had a chance to go up by three goals,†said Phillips, “but a couple of broken plays and near goals were turned around and taken down the field for a goal. Instead of being p by a couple of goals, we found ourselves down by three,†he added.
Willow/Blanco stormed back in the final chukker with Phillips playing like a man possessed. Three straight goals had the ball all even at 12-12.
With time running out, Willow/Blanco was whistled for a foul. Dalton buried it for the winning goal.
“We had our opportunities,†said Phillips, “right up until the final horn, we had a couple of opportunities, but we just couldn’t get it done.â€
“It was a great game,†said Dalton. “It was a great finish for us.
they gave us everything we could handle. They’re a very good team,†he said.
Dalton led all scoring with nine goals and was named MVP for his efforts. Barry scored three times and the team received one goal by handicap.
Phillips led the Willow/Blanco offense with seven goals. Blake scored four times and Sikes scored once in a losing effort.
Aruba, Phillips’s nine-year-old chestnut mare was named Best Playing Pony. Phillips rode her in the sixth chukker, scoring three goals with her.
SANTA CLARA/MT. AIRY 11, EFG BANK 7
Santa Clara/Mt. Airy scored the first three goals of the game and took an early 3-1 lead as EFG Bank was spotted a goal by handicap. Goals from Adrian Wade, Francisco Escobar and Francisco Bilbao gave them the early lead.
Cristina Fernandez scored the only goal of the second chukker for EFG Bank on a penalty shot, but Santa Clara/Mt. Airy continued to lead, 3-2.
Fernandez and Giannico scored single goals in the third for EFG Bank, Garrick Steele converted a penalty shot for a goal from Santa Clara/Mt. Airy. The first half ended with the game all even at 4-4.
A pair of goals from Francisco Bilbao and another goal from Steele gave Santa Clara/Mt. Airy a 7-5 lead. EFG Bank managed a single goal from Pelon Escapite in the period.
Two more goals from Bilbao extended the Santa Clara/Mt. Airy lead to three goals, 9-6. Escapite kept EFG Bank from being shutout with a single goal.
Santa Clara/Mt. Airy just kept on rolling in the final chukker.
Goals from Bilbao and Wade carried Santa Clara/Mt. Airy to an 11-7 win. Fernandez converted a 40-yard penalty shot for her third goal of the game in the loss.
Bilbao scored six times for Santa Clara/Mt. Airy. Wade and Steele scored two goals apiece and Francisco Escobar scored once.
Fernandez scored three goals for EFG Bank. Escapite added two goals and Giannico scored once.
YELLOW CAB 13, MT. BRILLIANT 10
Yellow Cab built up a 3-1 lead in the first chukker of its Sawgrass Challenge Cup match with Mt. Brilliant and drove on to a 13-10 win Friday afternoon at the International Polo Club.
A pair of goals from Francisco Bilbao and a goal from teammate Guille Usandizaga were countered by a single goal from Mt. Brilliant’s Julian Daniels in first chukker action as Yellow Cab took a 3-1 lead.
Three more goals in the second (again, two from Bilbao and one from Usandizaga) stretched the Yellow Cab lead as Mt. Brilliant was limited to two 60-yard penalty goals from Daniels. Yellow Cab continued to roll with a 6-3 advantage.
Mt. Brilliant came up with goals from Carlitos Galindo and Josh Shelton in the third, but Yellow Cab responded with a penalty goal from Bilbao and a goal from the field from Usandizaga. The first half came to an end with Yellow Cab parked on top of an 8-5 lead.
Mt. Brilliant cut the lead to two goals in the fourth, getting two goals from Daniels and another from Shelton. Usandizaga tried to keep pace by scoring a couple of goals from the field. The fourth chukker ended with Yellow Cab leading 10-8.
Galindo and Daniels scored single goals for Mt. Brilliant again in the fifth, cutting the Yellow Cab lead to a single goal, 11-10, but could get no closer.
Yellow Cab scored the last two goal s of the game in the sixth chukker with Shaun Garber and Usandizaga sealing the win in a 13-10 game.
Bilbao and Usandizaga scored six goals apiece for Yellow Cab. Shaun Garber scored a single goal in the win.
Daniels led the Mt. Brilliant attack with six goals. Galindo and Shelton accounted for two goals apiece.