La Indiana Wins in Overtime in Battle of Undefeated Teams
In the first match-up of the 2018 Joe Barry Cup between two 2-0 teams, overtime was required as La Indiana defeated Travieso 13-12. In a game that contained it all with multiple yellow cards, injury timeouts, a field change and highlight reel goals, La Indiana was outshot by Travieso 17-13 but used accurate 69% shooting from the field to escape with the victory.
After a high scoring first chukker that saw La Indiana race out to a 4-2 lead, with two goals coming from standout player Victorino Ruiz Jorba, the conclusion of each following chukka never saw the teams more than one goal apart. Travieso controlled the throw-in battle throughout the opening half, winning 13 of 19 throw-ins, which provided the source of their offense early in the game. Eventually finishing with 13 throw-in wins, Sebastian Merlos controlled possession and forced La Indiana into tough positions defensively leading to four penalty goals for Travieso. All four La Indiana players found the scoresheet before the end of the 2nd chukka, utilizing their accurate shooting to maintain the slim one goal lead.
After a field change at halftime, the pace of play increased with the better playing surface as the fouls reduced and the outcome of the game was decided in open play. Merlos scored the only goal in the 4th chukka to tie the score at 9-9, while the 5th and 6th chukkas saw the two teams trade goals, with Tomas Garcia del Rio scoring two highlight reel goals to restore the tie score and send the game into overtime.
A yellow card on the opening throw-in for Travieso after a mallet inadvertently struck Facundo Obregon in the face, set up a Penalty 5B for La Indiana and they took advantage driving down the field. Michael Bickford placed the ball right in front of goal as Obregon followed behind to tap the ball through for his 5th goal of the game, sending La Indiana to the victory.
The first game of the day saw Coca-Cola defeat Pilot 7-6 for their first win of the tournament, in a back and forth defensive game that saw Pilot miss numerous chances around goal. Shooting just 5 for 15 (33%), Pilot will look back on their missed opportunities while Coca-Cola put in a strong team performance, playing good positional defence to keep Facundo Pieres off the penalty line. Coca-Cola stretched their lead to 6-4 in the 4th chukka on an amazing end-to-end run from Sugar Erskine as he used exceptional horse power to carry the ball past the entire Pilot team.
A key part of Pilot’s attack despite just having a 1-goal handicap, Timmy Dutta finished a nice goal in the 5th chukka to reduce the deficit to one goal with just one chukka remaining. Coca-Cola was able to maintain their one goal lead in a scoreless 6th chukka, holding Pilot to zero shots to finish with the narrow 7-6 victory.