White Birch in Butler
By Alex Webbe
The International Polo Club in Wellington was the scene for the semifinals of the 2009 Butler Handicap with Las Monjitas and White Birch scoring wins and moving on to Sunday’s finals.
In the 3pm contest, Argentine 8-goaler Pancho Bensadon set the pace with eight goals as White Birch built up an 8-5 lead over Orchard Hill on its way to a 13-11 win.
Bensadon scored five of his game high eight goals in the first half as Orchard Hill struggled to establish a playing rhythm.
“We started out strong,†said Orchard Hill’s Hector Galindo, “but we missed a couple of opportunities in the third and fourth chukkers and let them get ahead of us. We finished strong, but we just couldn’t make up for the third and fourth chukkers,†he added.
Bensadon led all scorers with eight goals. Teammates Jeff Blake and Mariano Aguerre scored two goals apiece while Rob Stenzel, substituting for an injured Peter Brant, scored once.
Ten-goaler Pablo MacDonough scored five goals fro Orchard Hill. Lucas Criado added four goals and team captain Steve Van Andel and Hector Galindo added single goals in the loss.