Great Oaks Sweeps Bridgehampton Season
By Alex Webbe
Great Oaks scored a 12-11 overtime victory over a powerful White Birch team in the tournament finals for the second time this season to capture back to back championships at the Bridgehampton Polo Club this summer.
Following White Birch’s 5-0 pre-final run, Great Oaks managed to derail the super power in the finals of the Mercedes-Benz Cup earlier this year only to come back and repeat the feat in Monday afternoon’s rain-delayed finals of the Hampton Cup.
Leading by a single goal, 9-8, at the end of the fifth chukker, Great Oaks scored two goals in the sixth to go up 11-8 with three minutes left to play.
White Birch came roaring back with a pair of goals. With just 25 seconds left in regulation time, White Birch’s legendary 10-goaler, Mariano Aguerre, a 30-yard penalty shot to send the game into overtime.
Both teams had their opportunities in the extra frame but seemed unable to put the game away. Missed penalty shots and shots at goal that went wide set the tempo for a back and forth contest on the damp fields.
With 1:36 left in the overtime, Tomas Garcia del Rio connected on a 60-yard penalty shot for the 12-11 win.
Garcia del Rio was named MVP of the season-ending tournament while Mariano Aguerre’s 14-year-old Argentine chestnut mare Criollita was honored as Best Playing Pony.