Heathcote and Circa lock up semifinal berths
By
Alex Webbe
Heathcote received three goals to start with from the 20-goal
Certified team but found themselves trailing 5-4 after the first
seven-and-a-half minutes of play.
Heathcote did manage to rally for a come-from-behind 11-9
win in Hampton Cup play at the Bridgehampton Polo Club on Long Island Friday
afternoon. The victory gave Heathcote a
2-1 record and secured it a berth in the tournament semifinals.
“I really didn’t think we played that badly in the first
chukker,†said Heathcote 6-goaler Tommy Biddle.
“We just missed some opportunities,†he added. “We kind of had a case of the blahs early
on.â€
Tomas Garcia Del Rio converted a penalty shot for
Certified followed by a goal from the field from his brother, Marcos. Biddle scored Heathcote’s first goal from the
field, and added a 60-yard penalty goal. Two more goals from Tomas Garcia Del
Rio had Certified trailing by a single goal, 5-4, after the first chukker.
Defenses tightened on both sides in the second chukker,
and despite a few near goals, no points were scored and Heathcote took a one
goal lead into the third period.
Biddle’s third goal of the game gave Heathcote a 6-4 lead
before Certified’s attack started to pay off.
Marcos Garcia Del Rio scored twice from the field and Tomas Garcia Del
Rio converted two more penalty shots for goals.
At the end of the first half Heathcote trailed Certified, 8-6.
Adam Snow’s first goal of the game put Certified up by
three goals, 9-6, in the opening minutes of the fourth. Biddle scored on a penalty shot and the
period ended with Certified continuing to lead, 9-7.
Heathcote rode onto the field in the fifth chukker and
took control of the balance of the game.
Biddle scored the first two goals of the chukker from the field to knot
it up at 9-9 and then gave the lead back to Heathcote with a 40-yard penalty
shot. The chukker ended with Certified
on the down side of a 10-9 score.
“It wasn’t easy,†said Biddle. “It was very physical, and we played
disciplined defense. Nick (Manifold) was
anchored at the Back position for the last two chukkers, and nobody got past
him.â€
The Heathcote defense and dominance continued through the
final chukker, with Biddle’s eighth goal of the game delivering an 11-9 win to
Heathcote (2-1). Certified was
eliminated from competition with an 0-3 record.
CIRCA
13, KIG 10
Circa received one goal by handicap and added another
goal on a penalty shot from Magoo Laprida.
Michel Dorignac converted two penalty shots for goals from KIG and the
score was all even at 2-2 after the opening chukker of the game.
KIG got its offense on track in the second, picking up a
pair of goals from Luis Escobar and a single goal from team captain Bash
Kazi. A hard-riding defense kept Circa
off the scoreboard and KIG held a three goal, 5-2, advantage.
The third chukker turned KIG’s world upside down. Six straight goals from Circa had KIG
reeling. Four goals from Laprida and a
pair of goals from Martin Pepa ended the first half with Circa boasting an 8-5
lead.
“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong,†said KIG
6-goaler Nacho Figueras. “A bad bounce,
the ball hit a horses leg on its way to goal, a teammate turns the wrong
way. It was a disaster.â€
Laprida scored his sixth goal of the game to open the
second half giving Circa a 9-5 lead before KIG could respond. Single goals from Dorignac (60-ayrd penalty
shot) and Escobar ended the chukker with KIG down by two goals, 9-7.
Pepa made it 10-7, Circa, to open the fifth. Dorignac converted a shot for a penalty goal
for KIG, but Guille Aguero scored the next two goals, and Circa rode off the
field after five periods of play, 12-8.
Escobar scored two goals for KIG to cut the lead to two
goals, 12-10 before Pepa’s fourth goal of the day ended the match with a 13-10
Circa victory.
Laprida set the pace for Circa with six goals. Pepa added four and Aguero scored twice in
the win. Circa also received one goal by
handicap.
Escobar scored five times for KIG. Dorignac scored four times and Kazi added one
goal from the field in the loss.
The schedule for the 2011 Hampton Cup semifinals will be
set upon completion of a White Birch (2-0) – Equuleus (2-0) game that will
determine the semifinal pairings, and depending on weather (with Hurricane
Irene approaching) and field conditions.