LaHerradura beats Farmers & Merchants Bank 13-12
ByAlex Webbe
The high-goal season is officially underway on the WestCoast as the 20-goal La Herradura team (Guillermo Steta, Marianito Obregon,Carlos Gracida and Jason Crowder) beat Farmers & Merchants Bank (DanWalker, Michel Dorignac, Lucas Criado and Henry Walker) 13-12 in the semifinalsof the El Encanto Polo Classic I at the historic Santa Barbara Polo Club.
The El Encanto Polo Classic is the first of four major20-goal tournaments that include the USPA Lucchese America Cup, the USPA PiagetSilver Cup and the Bombardier Pacific Coast Open.
Argentine 7-goaler Michel Dorignac scored the first goalof the Friday morning game for Farmers & Merchants Bank followed by a goalfrom teammate Lucas Criado, 2-0. JasonCrowder got La Herradura on the scoreboard to close out the chukker. Farmers & Merchants Bank took the earlylead, 2-1.
Marianito Obregon tied the game at 2-2 with his firstgoal from the field for La Herradura and added another goal on a 40-yardpenalty conversion for a 3-2 lead. DanWalker scored the final goal of the period to deadlock it at 3-3.
Criado opened the third with two straight goals, giving Farmers& Merchants Bank a two goal, 5-3 lead. Crowder added two from the field for La Herradura followed by a pair ofpenalty conversions for goals from Obregon. At the end of the first half La Herradura was leading, 7-5.
Crowder and Dorignac exchanged goals in the opening minutesof the fourth chukker, 8-6, followed by a goal from Henry Walker that brought Farmers& Merchants Bank within a goal of La Herradura, 8-7. Farmers & Merchants Bank got into foultrouble, and it cost them as Obregon converted three consecutive penalty shotsto an 11-7 La Herradura advantage. HenryWalker scored the final goal of the chukker. La Herradura stretched their lead to three goals, 11-8.
For the first time all morning Farmers & MerchantsBank kept their opponent off of the scoreboard. Criado and Dorignac each added a penalty goal to the Farmers &Merchants Bank total, trailing La Herradura by a single goal, 11-10.
Guillermo Steta scored the opening goal of the sixthfollowed by a goal from the field from Obregon. La Herradura extended their lead to three goals, 13-10. Criado fought bravely back, adding two goalsto the Farmers & Merchants Bank total when the offense stalled and LaHerradura celebrated the 13-12 victory.
Obregon led all scorers with eight goals. Crowder accounted for four goals and Stetachipped in a goal as well. Criado ledthe Farmers & Merchants Bank offense with six goals, Dorignac scored threetimes; Henry Walker added two goals and Dan Walker was credited with a singlegoal in the loss.
The win boosts La Herradura into Sunday’s finals against Mansour(Ben Soleimani, Rico Mansur, Adam Snow and Santi Von Wernich).