Goose Creek Wins Waterbury Cup Opener
By Alex Webbe
Eight second half goals carried the day for Goose Creek as the Zegers boys piled it on in the opening round of the USPA Monty Waterbury Cup at the 302 Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina in a 13-9 win over Bendabout.
Cote and Martin Zegers each scored five goals apiece as Goose Creek built on a 5-4 halftime lead to take control of the 20-goal contest enroute to the victory.
The 19-goal Goose Creek team received one goal by handicap and jumped out to an early 3-1 first chukker lead. Martin Zegers scored his second goal of the game in the second period while disciplined defense held Bendabout scoreless.
Owen Rinehart scored Bendabout’s second goal of the match in the third chukker that was answered by another Martin Zegers goal before Hector Galindo added two more goals to the Bendabout total. Goose Creek left the field at the end of the first half with a 5-4 lead.
“We were in it;†said Bendabout 7-goaler Hector Galindo, “but the ball just didn’t go our way today.â€
Bendabout trailed the entire game, but was within striking distance until fourth chukker when Goose Creek took control.
The fast-paced action saw backhanders rule the field as transition from attack to defense happened with the swing of a mallet, reinforcing the belief that the two-tap rule would move the game along at a faster clip.
Goose Creek put four goals on the scoreboard in the fourth period to extend its lead to 9-6, and led 10-8 going into the final chukker.
Cote Zegers put Goose Creek up 11-8 in the sixth before Galindo scored his fourth goal of the game to cut the lead back to two goals, but in the end it wouldn’t be enough.
A foul was called resulting in the ejection of Owen Rinehart from the game for the final minutes of the sixth chukker and
Waterbury Cup action is scheduled to continue on Tuesday at 4 pm when