White Birch win insures them of a semifinal berth in the East Coast Open
By Alex Webbe
Airstream (Peter Orthwein, Guille Aguero, Matias Magrini and Michel Dorignac) struck first in Wednesday morning’s 10am match with White Birch Farm (Santino Magrini, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant) in East Coast Open play at the Greenwich Polo Club, but White Birch struck back as they ran up a 7-5 halftime lead before holding on for an exciting 11-10 victory.
Airstream’s Michel Dorignac converted a 30-yard penalty shot for the first goal of the game, but White Birch stormed back. Argentine 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa tied the game with a penalty conversion of his own and put White Birch in the lead with a goal from the field for the final goal of the chukker, 2-1.
Matias Magrini tied the game at 2-2 with the opening goal of the second period but the balance of the chukker went to White Birch. Ulloa added his third goal of the day and White Birch was awarded a goal on a rarely called Penalty 1 when Greenwich team captain Peter Brant was fouled in the goalmouth. After two chukkers, Airstream trailed 4-2.
Both offenses came alive in the third. Mariano Aguerre’s first goal of the game was countered by a goal from Matias Magrini, and White Birch regained their two goal advantage, 5-3. Guille Aguero and Ulloa traded goals, 6-5, and Matias Magrini converted a 30-yard penalty shot that was countered by Ulloa’s fifth goal of the morning. At the end of the first half it was White Birch in control of the game, 7-5.
Airstream outscored White Birch 2-1 in the fourth chukker on the strength of a pair of goals from Aguero. Ulloa kept White Birch from getting shutout as Airstream climbed to within a goal of the lead, 8-7.
White Birch went to whip and spur in the fifth. Two more goals from Ulloa and a goal from Peter Brant had White Birch in control of the game, 11-8. Airstream’s only goal of the chukker came on a 30-yard penalty conversion from Dorignac. The White Birch lead now stood at three goals, 11-8, with one chukker left in regulation play.
In the final chukker of the game, Airstream pressed the attack but White Birch stood firm. Airstream cut the lead to a single goal on penalty conversions from Matias Magrini, 11-10. The White Birch defense bent but didn’t break as they held on to score their second consecutive East Coast Open win, earning themselves a berth in the tournament semifinals with a 2-0 record. Airstream fell to 1-1.
Ulloa led all scorers with eight goals (one on a penalty conversion) Brant and Aguerre each scored a goal and the team received a goal on a Penalty 1. Matias Magrini scored three of his team high five goals on penalty conversions for Airstream. Aguero added three goals and Dorignac scored on a pair of penalty shots.
Play continues in the 2015 East Coast Open with two second round matches scheduled for Thursday, August 26th. In a 1pm game, Audi (Marc Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Nic Roldan and Miguel Novillo Astrada) faces Turkish Airlines (Bruce Colley/Joe Meyer, Joaquin Panelo, Tomas Garcia del Rio and Stevie Orthwein) at 1pm followed by a battle between KIG (Bash Kazi, Valerio Zubiaurre, Mariano Obregon and Pelon Escapite) and McLaren Greenwich (Chris Brant, Nick Manifold, Joao Paulo Ganon and Tommy Biddle).
Audi is the only other undefeated team in East Coast Open play (along with White Birch) at 1-0. Turkish Air, KIG and McLaren take the field with 0-1 records and will be fighting to eliminate elimination in the Thursday contests.
