Audi
upsets La Herradura; Coca-Cola wins in overtime; and Crab Orchard beats Goose
Creek
By
Alex Webbe
Audi rallied in final chukker of Saturday afternoon’s Joe
Barry Memorial Cup match to score an exciting 10-9 win over the veteran La
Herradura lineup.
La Herradura entered the final Joe Barry Memorial Cup
match Saturday afternoon as one of only four remaining unbeaten teams in the
tournament. Previously unbeaten Goose
Creek (2-1) had fallen to Crab Orchard (2-1), and Villa Del Lago (2-0),
Valiente (2-0) and Zacara (2-0) wouldn’t play again until Sunday.
Boasting a roster that fielded former 10-goalers Carlos
Gracida and Memo Gracida, the challenge promised to be a formidable one, and
hard riding and lightning fast passes were commonplace as the two struggled
through a contest that was annoyed by light rainfall.
Carlos Gracida opened the scoring by converting a pair of
penalty shots for goals. His brother
memo Gracida made it 3-0 with his first goal of the game before Audi managed to
find any offensive rhythm. Carlitos
Gracida (son of La Herradura’s Carlos Gracida) managed to get Audi in the
scoring column with a great individual effort in the final seconds of the first
chukker. La Herradura showed great poise
as they left the field with an early 3-1 advantage.
Two more penalty goals were registered by Carlos Gracida in
the second chukker, with Audi 8-goaler Nic Roldan scoring a single goal. La Herradura extended its lead to three
goals, 5-2.
La Herradura continued to stymie the Audi attack into the
third period of the game. Defensive
backhanders and aggressive ride-offs kept the younger team from scoring. Roldan managed to convert a 60-ayrd penalty
shot, but it was sandwiched between two more goals from the field from Carlos
Gracida. At the end of the first half, La
Herradura held a four goal, 7-3 lead over a struggling Audi attack.
Carlos Gracida opened the second half with a goal from
the field as La Herradura extended its lead over Audi to five goals, 8-3, but
that was when Audi seemed to come alive.
A quicker, more resilient Audi took the field in the fourth
chukker. Carlos Gracida scored the first
goal if the chukker from the opening throw-in, but Carlitos Gracida and Roldan
responded with goals of their own (Roldan converted a penalty shot for a goal). La Herradura continued to lead, but Audi was
within striking distance, trailing 8-5 as the chukker ended.
Afoul by La Herradura in the opening seconds of the fifth
period sent Roldan to the penalty line once again, where he converted the shot
for a goal. Less than a minute later Roldan
added a goal from the field. Carlos
Gracida closed out the chukker with a 60-yard penalty conversion. La Herradura held the lead at 9-7 with Audi
getting stronger as the game wore on.
With the Audi attack ramping up, La Herradura made
mistakes, and Roldan took advantage of them.
Two penalty conversions from Roldan in the opening two minutes of the
final chukker had it all even at nine goals apiece. The game continued to pick up speed as the
younger Audi team pressed their veteran opponents. With two minutes left in regulation time,
Roldan scored the go ahead goal, giving Audi its first lead of the game. La Herradura struggled to gain control of the
ball in the final minute of play, but it was not to be. Roldan drove the ball into the sideboards in
the final seconds of the chukker to end the game and deliver the 10-9 victory
to Audi.
Nic Roldan was credited with eight goals for Audi, five
on penalty shots. Carlitos Gracida added
two goals in the win. Carlos Gracida
scored eight goals for La Herradura, five on penalty conversions. Memo Gracida added a goal in the loss.
COCA-COLA
14, ORCHARD HILL 13 IN OVERTIME
In earlier action, Coca-Cola trailed by as many as four
goals after the second period before rallying for an exciting overtime win in
the third round of play in the 2013 Joe Barry Memorial Cup.
Lucas scored the first two goals of the game for Orchard
Hill while the Coca-Cola offense was shut down in the opening chukker. The early advantage went to Orchard Hill,
2-0.
Second chukker play opened with a Penalty 1 due to rough
riding in the goal mouth. Orchard Hill was
awarded a goal and led, 3-0. Criado
added another goal to the Orchard Hill total before Coca-Cola was heard
from. A single goal from Tommy
Collingwood got Coke on the scoreboard, with Criado closing out the scoring
with his fourth goal of the game for a comfortable 5-1 lead.
Coca-Cola team captain Gillian Johnston got the third
chukker off to a good start for her team by scoring two goals from the field, cutting
the Orchard Hill lead to two goals. Once
again, Criado scored the final goal of the chukker to move Orchard Hill ahead,
6-3 to end the first half.
A pressing Coca-Cola attack forced Orchard Hill into
fouls early in the fourth period of the game.
Julio Arellano made good on a pair of penalty shots for goals in the
first two minutes of the chukker, cutting the Orchard Hill lead to a single goal,
6-5. Orchard Hill bounced back to score
three straight goals to extend its lead to four goals, 9-5, with Criado scoring
for the sixth time and Jeff Hall converting a pair of penalty shots for
goals. A penalty goal from Arellano in
the final two minutes of the period was complimented by a goal from Collingwood. The chukker ended with Orchard Hill defending
a two goal lead, 9-7.
Goals from Arellano and Sugar Erskine opened the fifth period
for Coca-Cola, tying the game for the first time all day, 9-9. Hall
and Mason Wroe countered with single goals to regain a two goal lead,
11-9. Arellano and Hall exchanged single
goals to end the chukker with Orchard Hill on top, 12-10.
Coca-Cola took control of the game in the sixth, picking
up a penalty goal from Arellano and single goals from the field from Erskine
and Collingwood. Orchard Hill managed a
single goal from Criado, ending regulation time in a 13-13 deadlock and
requiring a sudden-death overtime period to decide the outcome.
After a brief intermission both teams returned to the
field on fresh mounts. Early fortune had
Orchard Hill knocking on the door of the Coca-Cola goal, but deft defensive
plays turned the efforts aside. Coca-Cola had their chances as well, but no
luck. A final run down the field in the final
minute of the overtime period found Arellano alone with the ball, scoring the
winning goal with 18 seconds in regulation time. Coca-Cola (1-2) had managed to fight its way
back from an early deficit to post the 14-13 sudden-death win over a
disheartened Orchard Hill (1-2) foursome.
Julio Arellano scored seven goals for Coca-Cola on the
day, four on penalty shots. Tommy
Collingwood, Sugar Erskine and team captain Gillian Johnston scored two goals
apiece for the win. Lucas Criado was
credited with seven goals for Orchard Hill.
Jeff Hall scored four times, twice on penalty shots and Mason Wroe added
a goal from the field. A Penalty 1
against Coca-Cola in the second chukker resulted in Orchard Hill being awarded
a penalty goal.
CRAB
ORCHARD 12, GOOSE CREEK 6
The veteran combination of 9-goaler Mariano Aguerre and
8-goaler Matias Magrini worked some magic Saturday afternoon in the Joe Barry Memorial
Cup at the International Polo Club as they charged out to a commanding 7-1
halftime before coasting to a 12-6 win over the previously unbeaten Goose Creek
lineup.
Magrini scored twice in the opening chukker with Aguerre
adding a goal for the early 3-0 lead.
A pair of goals from University of Virginia senior Felipe
Viana in the second chukker extended the Crab orchard lead as Goose Creek
struggled to stage any coordinated offense.
After two chukkers of play, Crab orchard led, 5-0.
Aguerre and Viana added single goals in the third chukker
to put Crab Orchard ahead 7-0 before Goose Creek finally got on the
scoreboard. A Crab Orchard foul sent
Goose Creek’s Kris Kampsen to the penalty line where he converted the shot for
their first goal of the game. The first
half ended with Crab orchard sitting atop an impressive 7-1 score.
Second half play was no kinder to Goose Creek as they watched
Crab orchard score three consecutive goals while they were unable to find their
offense again. For the third chukker in
four, Goose Creek was held scoreless and Crab Orchard rode off with a nine
goal, 10-1 advantage.
Kampsen scored the first goal of the fifth, but goals
from Aguerre and Magrini canceled it out.
The Crab orchard lead had grown to ten goals, 12-2 as the chukker ended.
Goose Creek tried desperately to get back into the game
in the final chukker. Maureen Brennan
and Kampsen scored single goals that went unanswered, and Luis Escobar
converted a penalty shot and added a goal from the field. For the first time all afternoon, Crab Orchard
(2-1) failed to score, but it was Goose Creek (2-1) that came up on the short
end of the 12-6 score.
Kris Kampsen led the Goose Creek attack with seven goals,
three on penalty shots. Both of Tommy
Biddle’s goals came on penalty conversions and Luis Escobar added a goal in the
win. Paco de Narvaez set the pace for
ERG with five goals. Jeff Blake was credited
with three goals and Wesley Bryan (substituting for an injured Scott Wood at
the end of the fourth chukker) added a goal in the loss.
The preliminary rounds of the Joe Barry Memorial Cup will
conclude on Sunday at the International Polo Club with four 20-goal matches.
Zacara (2-0) will meet Valiente (2-0) in one of two 10 am
games, with Piaget (0-2) facing Lucchese (0-2) in the other morning
contest. Lechuza Caracas (0-2) will face
Faraway (0-2) at noon, and the stadium feature match will pit Villa Del Lago
(2-0) against ERG (1-1).