Goose Creek remains unbeaten; First View wins opener
By Alex Webbe
Jose Donoso and Martin Zegers combined for eleven of the team’s twelve goals Tuesday afternoon as they galloped past Santa Clara 12-9 to lift Goose Creek to its second straight win in the 14-goal Freebooter’s Classic competition at the International Polo Club.
Donoso scored the first goal of the game, but Portuguese 3-goaler Diogo Gallego answered for Santa Clara with a pair of goals from the field to take an early 2-1 lead.
Goose Creek responded with a penalty goal from Zegers and another goal from the field from Donoso in the second. Shutout defense kept Santa Clara off of the scoreboard and Goose Creek took the lead, 3-2.
Luis Escobar and Juan Curbelo added goals in the third for Santa Clara, but Zegers scored a pair and teammate Donoso added his third of the game as well. The chukker ended with Goose Creek holding a 6-4 lead at the end of the first half.
“It was the first time with this team,†said Luis Escobar, “and we had to make some adjustments. We’ll be better next time.â€
Escobar opened the second half with a pair of goals from the field to tie the game at 6-6 before Donoso rifled a ball through the Santa Clara goal posts to end the chukker with Goose Creek holding on to a narrow 7-6 advantage.
Zegers converted a penalty shot for a goal to open the fifth period and Donoso added his fifth goal of the game to give Goose Creek a 9-6 lead. Santa Clara fought back, with Escobar adding two more goals (one from the field and one on a penalty shot). Goose Creek continued to lead by a single goal, 9-8.
A pair of penalty goals from Zegers and a goal from teammate Geronimo Obregon were more than enough to carry Goose Creek (2-0) to its second consecutive win while Santa Clara suffered its first loss of the tournament.
Zegers scored six times for Goose Creek and Donoso added five goals in the win. Obregon accounted for a single goal from the field.
Luis Escobar accounted for six goals for Santa Clara. Gallego scored twice and Curbelo added a goal in the losing effort.
FIRST VIEW 11, METAL TECH 10
After battling one another to a 5-5 first half tie, First View delivered a thundering four goal sixth chukker to lift the team to an 11-10 win over Metal Tech.
First opened with first chukker goals from Mason Wroe and Leo Mandelbaum, offset by a penalty goal from Metal Tech’s Stevie Orthwein and teammate James Armstrong. The teams left the field after the first chukker in a 2-2 stalemate.
Goals from Mandelbaum and Joe Meyer had First View up, 4-2, until Will Johnston scored to keep Metal Tech from being blanked in the second. First View led, 4-3, but Metal Tech continued to press its attack.
Two more goals from Stevie Orthwein had Metal Tech ahead by two goals, 7-5, with Biddle getting First View in the scoring column with his first goal of the game in the fourth. Metal Tech fought off the First View attack and maintained a precarious 7-6 edge.
Stevie Orthwein scored his sixth and seventh goals of the game in the fifth, Metal Tech but was unable to blank First View. Tommy Biddle converted on a 60-yard penalty shot, and trailed Metal Tech, 9-7.
All holds were barred in the final chukker of the game, and First View made the most of it. A penalty goal from Biddle was followed by a goal from the field from Mandelbaum to knot it up at 9-9. Robert Orthwein scored his first goal of the game in the final chukker for a 10-9 Metal Tech lead, but that would be its last.
Consecutive goals from Wroe put First View on top to stay with a pair of goals for the 11-10 win.
Stevie Orthwein led all scorers with seven goals. Teammates Will Johnston, Robert Orthwein and James Armstrong added single goals in the loss for the Metal Tech (0-1) team.
Leo Mandelbaum, Tommy Biddle and Mason Wroe scored three goals apiece for First View (1-0) with team patron, Joe Meyer, rallying for the win.