Black Watch Remains Undefeated in Gold Cup Play
By Alex Webbe
Black Watch (2-0) led Lechuza Caracas (1-1) for most of the game, taking a two goal lead into the final chukker before scoring a second consecutive win in 2009 USPA Piaget Gold Cup action. Area rains forced the movement of the match to the Lechuza Caracas polo grounds in Wellington where Black Watch rode off with a 10-9 win over the host team.
“They are a very talented team,†said Black Watch 6-goaler Nacho Figueras. “We played hard and had a little luck,†he added. “We’re all happy with the way the team is shaping up.â€
The Black Watch team was organized just weeks before the start of the Gold Cup and is comprised of four professional players from four different countries. Figueras hails from Argentina; Fred Mannix, Jr. is from Canada; Sugar Erskine is from South Africa and Luis Escobar was born in Costa Rica but is a citizen of the United States.
“We’re getting better,†said Escobar following the match, “we continue to make adjustments in each game.â€
Escobar scored the only goal of the opening chukker before second period goals from Nicolas Espain and Victor Vargas put Lechuza on top, 2-1.
Goals from Mannix, Escobar and Figueras pushed Black Watch out to a 4-2 lead until Juan Martin Nero took a backhand shot from Vargas in front of the goal and turned it into a Lechuza goal. Black Watch led 4-3 at the end of the first half.
“I think we finally got into rhythm after the fourth chukker,†said Escobar, even though they were outscored 2-1 for a tie game. “I think we really started working well together in the fifth,†he added.
Escobar converted a penalty shot for a goal to open the fifth chukker and added two more goals from the field as Black Watch went up by two goals. Vargas’s third goal of the game kept Lechuza from getting shut out, and the period ended with Black Watch ahead, 8-6.
Mannix scored to open the final chukker, giving Black Watch a 9-6 lead, but a well-placed backhand shot by Vargas cut the lead to 9-7. Nero scored again and cut the lead to a single goal, but there was only 1:39 left in the game.
A foul by Lechuza allowed Escobar to convert another penalty shot for a goal, and in spite of a final goal from Sapo Caset, Black Watch carried the day with the 10-9 win.
Escobar led all scoring with six goals. Mannix scored three times and Figueras added a goal in the win.
Lechuza team patron Vargas led his team with four goals. Nero scored three times and Caset and Espain added single goals.
USPA Gold Cup action continues with two games on Thursday when Pony Express (0-1) meets Orchard Hill (0-1) at 1pm followed by a 5pm match-up between Zacara (1-0) and Audi (1-0).