Mt. Brilliant and Bendabout Remain Undefeated; Barry Memorial Cup Semifinals Set
By Alex Webbe
Opening goals from Gillian Johnston and Inaki Laprida gave Bendabout an early 2-1 lead, as Faraway was held to a single penalty goal from Julio Gracida.
An anemic Faraway offense produced only two more goals in the first half with Sugar Erskine scoring in the second and Julio Arellano scoring from the field in the third.
Bendabout put four more first half goals on the scoreboard to round out first half action with a 6-3 halftime lead.
A regrouped Faraway foursome returned to the field in the fourth chukker and exploded for four goals while holding Bendabout to single scores from Lucas Criado and Chris Nevins. Both Erskine and Arellano notched a pair of goals in the period, and cut the Bendabout lead to a single goal, 8-7.
Faraway focused again in the fifth, getting goals from Erskine and Gracida while holding Bendabout to a single penalty goal from Nevins, and the score was knotted at 9-9.
Bendabout put an end to the uprising, however, as consecutive goals from Nevins and Johnston put them in front, 11-9.
A final penalty goal from Arellano ended the scoring and gave the game to Bendabout, 11-10.
Chris Nevins led the Bendabout attack with five goals. Gillian Johnston scored three times. Lucas Criado added two goals for the win, and Inaki Laprida scored once.
Julio Arellano and Sugar Erskine scored four goals apiece for Faraway. Julio Gracida added two goals in the loss.
PATAGONES 10, ZACARA 9
Play began cautiously as both Patagones and Zacara sized up one another, Carlitos Gracida (substituting for sidelined team captain Gonzalo Avendano) finally broke the ice with a goal from the field in the first chukker in a listless opening seven minutes of play.
Santiago Wulff scored a pair of goals to open the second chukker with Zacara’s Gonzalo Del Tour answering with a penalty conversion. Another Patagones goal went up on the scoreboard from Carlos Avendano to end the chukker with Patagones holding a 4-1 advantage.
Memo Gracida’s first goal of the match came in the third for a 5-1 Patagones lead before Zacara could respond. A penalty goal from Del Tour was followed by a goal from the field from teammate Martin Ravina, but Patagones lead at halftime, 5-3.
The two teams exchanged a couple of goals in the fourth period, 7-5, before Patagones began to pressure the Zacara defense.
Fifth chukker goals from Memo Gracida, Carlitos Gracida and Carlos Avendano had Patagones ahead, 10-7 as the chukker ended. Penalty goals from Del Tour and Ravina accounted for the team’s only offense.
The Patagones defense allowed only two goals on penalty shots to end the match, riding off with the 10-9 win.
Memo Gracida and Santiago Wulff scored three goals apiece for Patagones. Carlitos Gracida and Carlos Avendano each scored two goals in the win.
Zacara’s Gonzalo Del Tour led all scoring with six goals. Teammate Martin Ravina added three goals in a losing effort.
MT. BRILLIANT 12, LUCCHESE 11
Lucchese and Mt. Brilliant entered the day’s match with identical 2-0 records, but a lot to prove. The high-scoring combination of Mike Azzaro and Nic Roldan had combined for 24 goals in just two matches and meshed brilliantly on the field. Lucchese blew Patagones out of the water in an 18-10 rout in opening round play but needed an overtime period to subdue Zacara in second round action.
Mt. Brilliant took an early lead with Roldan scoring twice and Azzaro and Ulysses Escapite adding single goals. Goals from Kris Kampsen and Luis Escobar kept Lucchese close, but Mt. Brilliant had the early 4-2 lead.
The teams answered one another goal for goal for the next two chukkers, and Mt. Brilliant continued to hold on to a narrow one goal lead, 7-6, at halftime.
Lucchese rallied in the fourth with goals from Kampsen and Andres Weisz while holding Mt. Brilliant scoreless and took an 8-7 lead.
Three more goals in the fifth (two from Kampsen, one from Weisz) had Lucchese up 11-8, as Mt. Brilliant was held to a single Roldan goal.
Mt. Brilliant took to the field in the sixth with a vengeance. Consecutive goals from Azzaro, Bo Goodman and Escapite tied it up at 11-11while the Lucchese offense failed to get off a scoring shot, and the game was forced into overtime.
A long run by Azzaro set up team captain Bo Goodman with a tap in for the sudden-death win, and Mt. Brilliant took the game, 12-11.
The win gives Mt. Brilliant a 3-0 record while Lucchese falls to 2-1.
Action will continue in the 2011 Joe Barry Memorial Cup competition on Wednesday, January 19 with semifinal action taking featuring a 1 pm contest between Bendabout (3-0) and Lucchese (2-1). At 3 pm, Mt. Brilliant (3-0) will meet Faraway.
Nic Roldan scored five times for Mt. Brilliant. Mike Azzaro added three goals and Ulysses Escapite and Bo Goodman added two goals each.