Ylvisaker Cup

Patagones and Mt. Brilliant in

Ylvisaker Cup Finals

By Alex Webbe

 

Mt. Brilliant and Patagones will meet in Sunday’s 3pm finals of the 2009 Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club after an action packed day that saw players injured and replaced and a sudden-death overtime goal decide a game.

Early play had a Carlos Gracida-led Patagones team built up a five goal halftime lead on its way to a 13-8 win over BTA, this year’s Joe Barry Memorial Cup champion.

BTA rode onto the field with K. C. Beal replacing her father in the lineup.  Kelly Beal suffered a shoulder dislocation in the finals of the Barry Memorial Cup and was sidelined, forcing daughter K. C. Beal onto the field.

In a relatively quiet first chukker, Carlos Gracida accounted for the only goal as he converted a penalty shot for an early 1-0 lead.

Three more goals from Gracida gave Patagones four goals while BTA fought its way back into the game.  Individual goals from Jeff Blake, Hector Galindo and Pablo Spinacci had Patagones ahead by a single goal, 4-3, after the first two periods.

The third chukker belonged to Carlos Gracida and Patagones.  Displaying the form that had him ranked at the ultimate 10-goal rating, Carlos Gracida led the attack and directed the play scoring two more goals himself while nephew Julio Gracida displayed flashes of future greatness, adding two goals from the field for an 8-3 advantage.

Pablo Spinacci opened the fourth chukker with two goals from BTA, but Carlos and Julio Gracida each answered with a goal to keep the five goal lead.  A final goal from Jeff Blake ended the chukker with Patagones ahead 10-6.

BTA held Patagones scoreless for the first time all day in the fifth chukker as Jeff Blake added two more goals, cutting the Patagones lead to two goals, 10-8.

Just over a minute into the final chukker, BTA’s Hector Galindo injured what was thought to be a stomach muscle while swinging his mallet at the ball.  After a ten minute delay it was clear that Galindo would be unable to continue, and Brad Blake took his place.

BTA struggled to get anything going in the sixth chukker with Julio Gracida scoring on a well-placed pass from Carlos Avendano while his uncle Carlos converted two more penalty shots for the 13-8 win and a berth in the Ylvisaker Cup finals.

Carlos Gracida led all scoring with nine goals.  Julio Gracida added four goals in the win.

Jeff Blake led BTA with four goals.  Pablo Spinacci scored three times and Hector Galindo added a single goal.

In the second Ylvisaker Cup match of the day Mt. Brilliant needed a sudden-death overtime period to score a 10-9 win over a powerful San Saba foursome.

Trailing 4-1 after the first chukker of play, Mt. Brilliant fought its way back into the game outscoring San Saba 4-1 in the next two periods to even it up at 5-5 to end the first half.

“I really feel that they (San Saba) controlled much of the game,” said Mt. Brilliant 8-goaler Santiago Chavanne, “ but towards the end of the game I felt that we were in control.”

San Saba took a 7-5 lead after the fourth chukker on two well-played goals from Sapo Caset while shutting out Mt. Brilliant.  Mt. Brilliant returned the favor in the fifth period, keeping San Saba off of the board as Santiago Chavanne scored three times to take its first lead of the game, 8-7.

Caset tied it on a penalty shot and then retook the lead with another successful penalty shot conversion.  With time running out, it appeared that San Saba would appear in its second tournament final in as many tries, but Mt. Brilliant was not through.  Chavanne navigated through the San Saba players to add his seventh goal of the day, tie it at 9-9, and send it into overtime.

“Every time we were turned away,” said Chavanne, “I became more determined.

Nearly four minutes into overtime, Chavanne scored the winning goal at the south end of the field, and the Mt. Brilliant following screamed with excitement.

“We never gave up,” said Pelon Escapite, who added Mt. Brilliant goals in the second and third chukkers.  “We continued to grow more determined as the game went on.”

Chavanne led the Mt. Brilliant attack with eight goals on the day.  Escapite scored twice in the win. 

San Saba’s Sapo Caset scored eight goals, teammate Toto Collardin scored once.