Circa downs Coca-Cola; Alegria sinks Heathcote
By Alex Webbe
Circa secured
a spot in the Ylvisaker Cup quarterfinals with a 12-10 win over Coca-Cola while
Alegria choreographed an unlikely ending to their match with Heathcote for a
12-11 overtime victory Wednesday afternoon at the International Polo Club in
Wellington.
Circa trailed
Coca-Cola only two times in the first chukker of play in Wednesday’s 4pm
contest before Argentine 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa led his team to a 12-10 win and
a berth in next Friday’s quarterfinals.
“The team
just keeps getting better with every game,†said Ulloa following the match.
In a penalty
riddled opening chukker in which ten fouls were whistled by the umpires, Circa
managed to escape with a 4-2 lead. Coca-Cola’s
Julio Arellano scored the opening goal of the game on a penalty conversion, 1-0. Circa responded with a 40-yard penalty shot
from Hilario Ulloa, 1-1. Arellano
connected on a 60-yard penalty shot for a 2-1 advantage, but that would be
where it would end. Coca-Cola committed
some damning fouls in an effort to keep Circa from scoring, putting Ulloa at
the penalty line where he converted three consecutive penalty shots for
goals. After the first seven minutes of
play, Circa led, 4-2.
Sugar Erskine
opened the scoring in the second period with a goal from the field, cutting the
lead to a single goal, 4-3. Martin Pepa
responded with a goal for Circa. At the
end of two periods of play Circa continued to hold a two goal advantage, 5-3.
Pepa scored
Circa’s sixth goal of the game in the third but Arellano countered with a
penalty goal. Circa dominated the first
three chukkers of play and led 6-4 at halftime.
Coca-Cola
struggled to get back into the game in the second half, but Circa continued to
dictate the pace of the game. Ulloa added
two more goals while the Circa defense held Coca-Cola scoreless. After four chukkers Circa sat on top of an
8-4 score and looked to be securely in control of the match.
Coca-Cola
started to creep back into contention with three penalty goals in the fifth to
cut the Circa lead to a single goal, 8-7, but Circa pushed right back. A penalty goal from Ulloa was followed by a
goal from the field from Guille Aguero, and Circa led by three goals,
10-7. Ulloa closed the chukker with his
eighth goal of the day, putting Circa on the winning end of an 11-7 score.
Pepa put
Circa ahead by five goals, 12-7, with his third goal of the game when Coca-Cola
staged a mini rally. Two consecutive
goals from the field from Erskine and a goal from Arellano cut the lead to just
two goals, but time was not on their side.
With Coca-Cola trailing 12-10 the final horn sounded and Circa rode off
the field with the win.
Ulloa led all
scoring with eight goals. Pepa added
three goals and Aguero scored once in the victory.
Arellano’s
seven goals led the Coca-Cola attack.
Erskine accounted for the other three goals.
The victory
lifts Circa into the tournament’s quarterfinals on Friday against a yet to be
determined opponent.
ALEGRIA 12, HEATHCOTE 11 IN OT
In earlier
Ylvisaker Cup competition, Alegria fought back to tie the game in the sixth
chukker and score a win in overtime over a disappointed Heathcote team that suffered
its second overtime loss in as many games.
Alegria took control
of the match early, registering three unanswered goals in the opening chukker
of play. Julian Mannix converted a
penalty shot for a goal followed by a pair of goals from Mariano Aguerre (one from
the field and one on a 60-yard penalty shot).
After the first chukker of play Alegria held a 3-0 advantage over a
struggling Heathcote foursome.
Lucas
Monteverde got Heathcote on the scoreboard with the opening goal of the second
period, but was answered by goals from Naco Taverna and Mannix. Nick Manifold scored from the field to cut
the lead to a manageable three goals when an Alegria penalty put Monteverde at
the line with an opportunity to cut a little deeper into the Alegria lead. The short penalty shot went wide, however,
and Heathcote trailed by three goals, 5-2.
Manifold
scored on a beautifully executed backhander following an attempted Alegria knock-in,
but Mannix responded with another goal from the field. Alegria continued to lead, 6-3 the first half
completed.
Heathcote got
its offense working in the fourth chukker, picking up single goals from Manifold
and Monteverde and a pair of penalty goals from Biddle. Alegria got two goals from Mannix, however,
ad continued to lead, 8-7.
Mannix and Aguerre
each converted a penalty shot for a goal to open the fifth, but Heathcote
stormed back into the fray. Goals from
team captain Steve Lefkowitz, Biddle and Monteverde locked it up at 10-10 at
the end of the fifth chukker.
A renewed
energy took the field in the sixth and final chukker of regulation play as both
teams fought for control of the ball.
With 4:47 left in the chukker, Manifold scored to give Heathcote its
first lead of the game, 11-10. With just
over a minute to play, Heathcote fouled and Mannix lined up for a nearly
automatic short penalty shot for a goal.
The shot went wide, however, and with time running out, Heathcote’s Biddle
began to bring the ball into play. A
miscue by Biddle left the ball in front of the Heathcote goal and Mannix broke
through to score a goal and tie it up at 11-11, forcing a sudden-death overtime
chukker.
With just 35
seconds gone in overtime, Heathcote fouled an Alegria charge down the field, and
Mannix converted the 40-yard shot for the 12-11 win.
Mannix scored
eight times for Alegria. Aguerre
accounted for three goals and Taverna scored once.
Manifold
accounted for four Heathcote goals.
Biddle and Monteverde scored three goals apiece and Lefkowitz added a
goal in the loss.