Hawks Soar to Second Win in Wanderers Classic
By Alex Webbe
The Hawks scored its second straight win over Lechuza I Saturday morning as play continued in the 2011 Wanderers Classic 14-goal competition at the International Polo Club.
The Hawks got two first chukker goals from Jason Crowder as the Hawks defense kept the Lechuza players off of the scoreboard, and took a 2-0 lead after the first seven minutes of action.
Juan Curbelo and Crowder combined for three goals in the second, but Lechuza responded with three goals of its own, getting two from Toto Collardin and a single goal from Matt Coppola.
Defenses tighten in the third chukker with each team having to settle for a single penalty goal. Julian Mannix converted the ball for a goal for the Hawks while Collardin scored on a penalty shot for Lechuza I. The Hawks established an early dominance, and took a 6-4 halftime lead to the sidelines with them after three chukkers of action.
Lechuza I cut the lead to a single goal in the fourth, getting two more goals from Collardin, but Mannix’s second goal of the game kept the Hawks in front, 7-6.
The play went back and forth in the fifth with each team scoring twice. Collardin added his sixth and seventh goal of the game while Mannix and Crowder accounted for single goals for the Hawks. The period ended with the Hawks hanging on to a one-goal, 9-8 advantage.
Crowder and Mannix closed out the scoring for the Hawks with single goals in the sixth chukker. Coppola scored the only Lechuza I goal of the chukker in the 11-9 loss to the Hawks.
Collardin led all scoring with seven goals. Teammate Coppola added two goals in the loss.
Crowder set the pace for the Hawks with six goals. Mannix scored three times and Curbelo added two goals for the win.
The win improves the Hawks’ record to 2-0 while Lechuza I’s record levels off at 1-1.
BENDABOUT/FIRST VIEW 14, PONY EXPRESS/DETROIT BLUES 12
Pony Express/Detroit Blues held Bendabout/First View to two goals from Julio Arellano as they rang the bell three times in the first chukker for a 3-2 lead. Two goals from Nick Snow and a goal from the field from Tomas Goti had Bendabout/First View chasing Pony Express/Detroit Blues throughout the first chukker, but there was more game to be played.
Bendabout/First View exploded with four second chukker goals, with Mason Wroe and Arellano each scoring a pair of goals. Goti accounted for the only offensive goal of the chukker for Pony Express/Detroit Blues, and Bendabout/First View took the lead, 6-4.
Arellano added two more goals in the third while Pony Express/Detroit Blues got goals from Goti and Colin McCosh. Bendabout/First View continued to lead at the half, 6-4.
Wroe scored twice from the field in the fourth, but Pony Express/Detroit Blues got two more goals from Snow and a single goal from Goti. The lead had now been cut to a single goal, 10-9.
Arellano gave Bendabout/First View an 11-9 lead to open the fifth chukker, but three straight goals from Pony Express/Detroit Blues changed the complexion of the game. Goti cut the lead to a single goal, 11-10, with his first score of the period, and Bob Daniels tied it at 11-11. Goti’s second goal of the chukker gave
Goti scored his fifth and sixth goals Pony Express/Detroit Blues a brief 12-11 lead, but Arellano closed out the scoring on the chukker, tying the game, once again, at 12-12.
Bendabout/First View shut down the Pony Express/Detroit Blues attack in the final seven minutes of play while getting goals from Arellano and Joe Meyer for the 14-12 victory.
Arellano led all scoring with nine goals. Wroe added four goals to the total and Meyer scored once in the win.
Goti scored six times for Pony Express/Detroit Blues. Snow accounted for four goals in the loss and Daniels and McCosh each scored once.
The Hawks (2-0) sit atop the leader board with perfect 2-0 record, while Lechuza I falls to 1-1. Bendabout/First View improves its record to 1-1 and Pony Express/Detroit Blues fall to 0-2.