Hawks, Lucchese score wins, move on to finals
By Alex Webbe
Daily News Polo Columnist
In two of the fastest-paced polo matches of the season, the Hawks downed Zacara and Lucchese rallied to beat the Wanderers/Isla Carroll Wednesday afternoon at the International Polo Club in Wellington. The wins set up the finals of the 2010 Ylvisaker Cup, just a week after the death of the tournament’s namesake.
In the 1 pm contest, the Hawks scored three unanswered goals in the final chukker to salvage a 13-12 win over Zacara after entering the sixth period trailing 12-10.
“We just had to win it,†offered an elated Fred Mannix, Jr. after the game. “If we hadn’t won it, the whole season would have been for nothing,†he added.
In a virtual rematch of the finals of the recently completed Joe Barry Memorial Cup (won by Zacara, 11-9) the two teams took to the field aggressively, scoring a total of fourteen goals in the opening half of play.
Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea scored the first goal of the game but was promptly answered by a goal from the field from Fred Mannix. Jeff Hall’s opening goal had Zacara up 2-1 before a pair of goals from Fred Mannix ended the chukker with the Hawks ahead, 3-1.
Play continued to ebb and flow throughout the second and third chukkers, with Zacara putting three goals on the scoreboard in the second while holding the Hawks to a single penalty goal. Goals from Gonzalo del Tour and Jeff Hall (penalty shot) in the third were countered by the Hawks who got a pair of goals from Mariano Aguerre in, and a single score from Julian Mannix to give knot it up at 7-7 at the end of the first half.
The pace continued to escalate in the fourth chukker with Lyndon Lea accounting for the only Zacara goal while Fred Mannix grabbed three goals for the Hawks to put them ahead 10-8 as the period ended.
A determined Zacara team returned to the field in the fifth, combining shutout defense with an aggressive attack that netted them four goals and a 12-8 lead with seven-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
“They (Hawks) had confidence this time,†said polo veteran Nick Manifold when asked the difference between today’s 13-12 win and the 13-11 Zacara win in the finals of the Barry Cup. “They (Hawks led going in to the final chukker in the Barry Cup and then gave up three quick goals in the loss,†he said. “Today there was no letdown.â€
This time it was the Hawks with shutdown defense. Julian Mannix scored the first goal of the final chukker, and his brother Fred converted two penalty shots in the 13-12 win.
A moment of concern arose in the final seconds of the game when Toto Collardin broke loose with the ball and headed for the Hawks’ goal in what looked like a sure scoring effort. A bouncing ball and an errant shot, however, caused the ball to roll safely across the end line to end the game.
LUCCHESE 13, WANDERERS/ISLA CARROLL 12
In the second nail-bitter of the day, Lucchese rallied from a 12-8 deficit in the fifth chukker to score an electric 13-12 win over an exciting Wanderers team in a fast-paced up and down the field race that saw Kris Kampsen score ten times in a losing effort.
“We took the field as a team,†said the team captain and owner of the Lucchese Boot Company, John Muse, “and we played throughout as a team. I’m very proud of each of our players.â€
Kampsen notched the first goal of the game on a penalty shot before the balanced scoring of Lucchese got on track. Pancho Bensadon tied it with a goal from the field, but Kampsen answered right back with a goal of his won. Lucchese added goals from Luis Escobar and Andres Weisz, and left the field with an early 3-2 advantage.
Goals from Sugar Erskine and Kampsen had the Wanderers on top briefly, 4-3, but a closing goal from Bensadon had it all even at 4-4.
Lucchese took the upper hand in the third chukker, getting two more goals from Escobar and another goal from Weisz. The Wanderers came back with a pair of Kampsen goals on penalty conversions but trailed at the half, 7-6.
The Wanderers stormed the field in the fourth period, with Kampsen scoring four goals by himself and nacho Figueras adding a goal. Lucchese was held to a single penalty goal from Escobar, and trailed 11-8.
Kampsen made it 12-8 with the opening goal of the fifth chukker, but that would be the end of the Wanderers’ attack. Over the balance of the fifth and sixth chukkers, Lucchese would outscore the Wanderers 5-1, getting a pair of goals apiece from Weisz and Bensadon and a single goal from Escobar.
Lucchese made a dramatic comeback to score the 13-12 win and move into Sunday’s finals of the Ylvisaker Cup against the Hawks.