Pony Express/Detroit Blue win 11-9
By Alex Webbe
Pony Express/Detroit Blue ended competition in the International Polo Club’s 2011 Wanderers’ Classic 14-goal with an 11-9 win over Bendabout/First View Monday morning on the Pony Express field in Wellington.
Bob Daniels led all scoring with five goals as Pony Express/Detroit Blue built on a 5-4 halftime lead to capture the win.
The two teams swapped goals in the opening chukker, with Juan Agustin Grossi scoring twice for Bendabout/First View while Daniels tallied two goals for Pony Express/Detroit Blue, and the first chukker ended in a 2-2 tie.
Defenses tightened in the second, with Pony Express/Detroit Blue being held to a single goal from the field by Daniels. Bendabout/First View managed got on the scoreboard with a 40-yard penalty conversion by Diego Ferreira, and the deadlock remained, 3-3.
It wasn’t until the third chukker that Pony Express/Detroit Blue managed to get any separation from Bendabout/First View. Mason Wroe’s first goal of the game put Bendabout/First View up by a goal, 4-3, but Pony Express/Detroit Blue rallied back with goals from Daniels and Nick Snow. The chukker ended with Pony Express/Detroit Blue holding a narrow 5-4 halftime lead.
Rodolfo Irigoyen tied the game at 5-5 with his first score of the match and Ferreira put Bendabout ahead, 6-5, with his second goal. Snow scored the tying goal for Pony Express/Detroit Blue, and the teams took a 6-6 score into the fifth chukker.
The battle continued to go back and forth, with Gossi converting a 60-yard penalty shot for a brief 7-6 Bendabout/First View lead only to have Snow even it up again at 7-7. Irigoyen scored again for Bendabout/First View, but Snow’s fourth goal of the game ended the chukker with the teams deadlocked in an 8-8 game.
Tomas Goti put Pony Express/Detroit Blue up 9-8 with his first goal of the game, but Bendabout/First View fought back to tie it again with a goal, 9-9.
Final goals from Daniels and Goti shut out the scoring and gave Pony Express/Detroit Blue a well-earned 11-9 win.
Daniels led the Pony Express/Detroit Blue team with five goals. Snow scored four times and Goti added two goals for the win.
Gossi and Ferreira scored three goals apiece for Bendabout/First View. Irigoyen added two and Wroe accounted for a goal.