La Indiana Wins Overtime Thriller Over Dubai
In the closest game of the 2018 Copa de Oro thus far, overtime was required with La Indiana ultimately defeating Dubai 12-11 at Santa Maria Polo Club.
The foul ridden game, with 28 fouls combined between the two teams, it was Dubai that paced their offense from the penalty line, while La Indiana’s accurate attack in open play eventually won out. Despite receiving five penalty 2’s in the game, Dubai were unable to separate themselves from a La Indiana team that converted 9 of their 11 shot attempts. With neither team holding a lead for two consecutive chukkas, the back and forth game was decided by the narrowest of margins, with La Indiana’s revamped line-up including Bautista Urbina and Lucas James in place of Santiago Romero and Facundo Pieres, using a quick passing attack to complete the 12-11 victory.
A dominant second chukka for La Indiana saw them score four goals on perfect 3 for 3 shooting from the field and convert their one penalty attempt to grab an early 5-3 lead. Led by the efforts of James and Santiago Laborde, La Indiana’s fast paced attack provided difficulties for a Dubai defence that found themselves in foul trouble. Dubai quickly responded in the following chukka, utilizing their own balanced offense to place La Indiana in foul trouble, with Alfredo Cappella converting all three penalty attempts to help Dubai retake the lead at 7-6.
The second half began with the fouls continuing to pile up and despite five fouls for La Indiana in the fourth chukka, they outscored Dubai 2-1 to bring the game back into a tie, with the teams destined to remain within one goal of each other for the remainder of the game. The teams continued to trade goals until the end of the sixth chukka, as Dubai held a one goal lead with a minute remaining until Michael Bickford ran the ball through the goal to send the game into overtime. Minutes into the extra chukka, La Indiana drove downfield, maintaining possession in front of the Dubai goal. A last second defensive effort wasn’t enough for Dubai to keep the ball out of their goal, as Bautista Urbina jumped on the loose ball to score his only goal of the game, but it sent La Indiana to the 12-11 victory and continued their undefeated run in the Copa de Oro.