Faraway
wins Wanderers Cup Opener
By
Alex Webbe
The 14-goal Wanderers Classic opened the 2012 medium goal
season at the International Polo Club in Wellington Saturday morning with
Faraway scoring a resounding 14-10 win over Paul Knapp’s Flat Out quartet.
Steve Krueger got flat Out on the scoreboard first with a
first chukker goal from the field before Faraway responded with goals from
Tomas Obregon and Julian Daniels. Juan
Vallerdi gave Faraway a 3-1 lead with his first goal of the game, and Nick snow
closed out the opening chukker with a 40-yard penalty conversion. Faraway led, 3-2.
Both defenses tightened in second with Obregon scoring a
single goal from the field for Faraway and Snow responding with a Flat Out
goal. After two chukkers of play Faraway
continued to lead, 4-3.
Faraway took control of the game in the third chukker
with Daniels adding two more goals from the field and Obregon converting a
penalty shot for a goal. Vallerdi added
his second goal of the game and Faraway left the field at the end of the first
half with an 8-3 lead.
Obregon added three more Faraway goals in the fourth,
scoring twice on penalty shots and scoring once from the field. Vallerdi added another goal while the Faraway
defense held Flat Out to a pair of goals from Krueger, extending its lead to
seven goals, 12-5.
Flat Out came up with a pair of scores in the fifth as
team captain Paul Knapp and Todd Offen managed single goals. Vallerdi scored Faraway’s only goal of the
chukker as Flat Out trailed 13-7 with one chukker left to play in regulation
time.
Vallerdi’s fifth goal of the game had Faraway up 14-7
with Flat Out struggling to get back into the game. Krueger scored a goal and Snow scored two
more times from the field as Faraway coasted to the 14-10 win.
“It took us a little while to get it going,†offered
Faraway 6-goaler Julian Daniels, “but once we got on track it moved along
almost effortlessly. It’s a great team,â€
added Daniels, “We’ve got two talented young players in Tomas (Obregon) and
Juan (Vallerdi), and Hutton (Goodman) played a great game.â€
Obregon led all scoring with six goals. Vallerdi scored five times and Daniels added
three goals in the win.
Snow and Krueger scored four goals apiece for Flat
Out. Knapp and Offen added single goals
in the loss.
Wanderers Cup play will continue on Wednesday, January 11
with a 3 pm game between La Casa Hermosa (0-0) and Faraway (1-0).