Equine
Law Group held on for an 11-10 win over Palm Beach Equine to qualify for the
2013 President’s Cup
By
Alex Webbe
Palm Beach Equine (Enrique Barco, Geronimo Obregon,
Gringo Colombres and Scott Swerdlin) rallied for an overtime win against Pony
Express earlier in the week, but their luck ran out on Friday afternoon when
Equine Law Group (Matias Gonzalez, Marcos Onetto, Del Walton and Avery Chapman)
held on for the 11-10 win in the International Polo Club’s President’s Cup
qualifier.
The Equine Law Group took control of the game from the
opening throw-in as they rang up three unanswered goals in the first chukker of
play. Del Walton opened the scoring with
a penalty conversion for a goal and followed it up with a goal from the
field. Towards the end of the first
chukker, Marcos Onetto stole the ball from a Palm Beach Equine player and
closed out the scoring with a goal for the 3-0 Equine Law Group lead.
An aggressive attack and fouls got Palm Beach Equine right
back into the game in the second period as Geronimo Obregon scored a pair of
penalty goals and a goal from the field.
Gringo Colombres added a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal and a 4-4
tie. Equine Law Group was held to a
single goal from the field from Onetto.
Onetto gave Equine Law Group a 5-4 edge in the opening
minutes of the third chukker, but and Enrique Barco responded with a goal for Palm
Beach Equine and a 5-5 tie.
Fourteen-year-old Matias Gonzalez took the lead back for Equine Law
Group on a beautifully delivered open back shot that scored from an impressive
angle some 50 yards out. The first half
ended with Equine Law Group riding off the field with a narrow 6-5 advantage.
Onetto scored on a penalty shot to open the second half
of play, 7-5, but Colombres matches it with a goal from the field, 7-6. Equine Law Group extended their lead to three
goals on a second score from Onetto and Avery Chapman’s first goal of the
game. After four chukkers Equine Law
Group led, 9-6.
Colombres and Onetto exchanged single goals in the fifth
period, but Palm Beach Equine couldn’t close the gap, and continued to trail by
three goals, 10-7, with one period left to play in regulation time.
Palm Beach Equine charged out of the gate in the sixth
chukker. A pair of penalty goals from
Obregon and a goal from the field from Colombres tied it up at 10-10 with less
than two minutes on the clock. The
momentum had shifted and Palm Beach Equine was on the hunt. An unfortunate foul that went in the favor of
Equine Law Group ended the drive, and Onetto and company managed to weather out
the last minute of the game and preserve the 11-10 victory.
Onetto led all scoring on the day and was named MVP for
his efforts. Walton was credited with
two goals and Gonzalez and Chapman each chipped in a goal for the win. Obregon’s five goals set the pace for Palm
Beach Equine. Colombres accounted for
four goals and Barco added a goal in the loss.
Obregon’s mare,
Allydesia, was honored as Best Playing Pony.