Marianito Obregon scored five goals in the 11-7 Equuleus semifinal win, but it was his defense that set the table for the Wednesday afternoon victory.
Time after time Obregon could be seen riding-off, blocking or physically pestering polo legend Memo Gracida in the course of the match.
“The game plan had me going to the hitter, no matter who it was,” said Marianito Obregon, “and then to look for Memo (Gracida) throughout the game.”
Patagones scored first, with Carlos Avendano converting an early penalty shot for a goal. Adam Snow returned the favor for Equuleus for a 1-1 tie. A pair of goals from Obregon in the second gave Equuleus a 4-2 lead after the second, with Gonzalo Avendano scoring the only Patagones goal.
Obregon scored on a penalty shot to open the third and Snow recorded his second goal of the match as Equuleus took a 5-2 lead. Gonzalo Avendano drove the ball through the Equuleus goal posts to end the first half trailing 5-3.
The two teams exchanged a couple of goals in the fourth and single goals in the fifth before Gracida scored his only goal from the field in the sixth.
Two goals from Mariano Gonzalez and Obregon’s fifth goal of the match sealed the deal, with Equuleus taking the win, 11-7, and moving into Sunday’s 2011 Ylvisaker Cup finals against Zacara.
“I thought the team went well today,” said Marianito Obregon. “They’re (Patagones) a tough team, but I thought we did well against them.”
Obregon was the leading scorer for Equuleus with five goals. Snow and Gonzalez added three goals apiece.
Carlos Avendano accounted for three goals for Patagones. Gracida scored twice and Donovan and Gonzalo Avendano scored single goals in the loss.
ZACARA 11, LUCCHESE 8
Lucchese received one goal by handicap and got a first chukker goal from Luis Escobar, but watches ad three goals from Zacara’s Gonzalo Del Tour took the early lead.
Two unanswered goals from Andres Weisz and Kris Kampsen gave Lucchese the lead after the second chukker, 4-3.
Zacara rebounded in the third, picking up goals from Del Tour and Jeff Blake, and ending the first half with a narrow 4-4 advantage.
Lucchese fought back in the fourth, getting a pair of penalty goals from Kampsen and a goal from the field from Escobar. Zacara managed a single goal from Del Tour, and the period ended with Lucchese on top of a 7-6 score.
Weisz scored again in the fifth, but goals from Del Tour (penalty conversion) and Mariano Uranga tied it up at 8-8.
Zacara took control of the final chukker, scoring three times while shutting out the Lucchese offense in the 11-8 win.
“I don’t know what went wrong today,” said a bewildered Kampsen after the game. “It just wasn’t working for us today. We’re a better team than that.”
Del tour scored eight goals for Zacara. Teammate Uranga added two goals and Blake scored once.
Kampsen set the pace for Lucchese with three goals. Escobar and Weisz each scored two goals in the loss.
The victory puts Zacara in Sunday’s finals of the 2011 Ylvisaker Cup finals against Equuleus.
Faraway 11, Bendabout 10
The pace was fast, with runs up and down the field as Faraway battled Bendabout to an 11-10 win in Wednesday’s Haas Cup semifinals at the International Polo Club in Wellington. While a balanced Bendabout attack had Faraway trailing throughout much of the game, Faraway managed to put up two unanswered last chukker goals for the victory.
Chris Nevins and Lucas Criado scored first chukker goals fro Bendabout, but Faraway 9-goaler Julio Arellano added a pair of goals for Faraway with the first period ending in a 2-2 tie.
Goals from Gillian Johnston and Inaki Laprida in the second went unanswered as Bendabout rode out to a 4-2 lead after just two chukkers of play.
Criado added another goal for Bendabout in the third, but a pair of penalty conversions from Julio Gracida had Faraway up 5-4 as the first half ended.
Johnston added two more goals to the Bendabout pot while Faraway came back with goals from Pablo Spinacci (for the injured Sugar Erskine) and Julio Gracida. Bendabout continued to lead, 7-6.
The high-scoring fifth chukker produced six goals, with each side collecting its half. Bendabout got goals from Johnston, Laprida and Nevins with Faraway coming back with three goals from Arellano. Bendabout took the 10-9 lead into the final chukker of play.
A Faraway rally in the sixth garnered it a pair of goals from Arellano, while Bendabout missed a number of scoring opportunities as the final horn sounded in the 11-10 win in Wednesday morning’s Haas Cup semifinal.
“I think I played it too easy in the first half,” said American 9-goaler Julio Arellano. “I missed a penalty shot and another shot from the field. When I took the field in the second half, I put everything I had into it, played the way I always do and we had success.”
“I thought the team went well today,” said Julio Gracida. “They’re a tough team, and we had to play hard to beat them.”
Faraway will go on to meet ERG in Sunday afternoon’s Haas Cup final.
ERG 10, MT. BRILLIANT 6
Goals from ERG’s Paco De Narvaez and Mt. Brilliant’s Nic Roldan had it all even at 1-1 after the first chukker, but the game wouldn’t stay close for very long.
Second chukker goals from ERG’s Santi Torres and Jason Crowder had Mt. Brilliant trailing, 3-2, as they picked up a single goal on a penalty shot by team captain Bo Goodman.
Mt. Brilliant’s Mike Azzaro scored the only goal of the third period, and the first half ended in a 3-3 deadlock.
ERG took a 5-4 lead in the fourth chukker, getting goals from Charlie Micheo (substituting for the absent Scott Wood) and De Narvaez. Mt. Brilliant responded with a single goal from Ulysses Escapite, and fell behind ERG 5-4.
ERG got single goals from Torres, De Narvaez and Crowder as a silent Mt. Brilliant offense was shut out and found themselves down by four goals, 8-4.
Goals from Micheo and De Narvaez were countered by goals from Azzaro and Escapite, but time ran out on Mt. Brilliant in the 10-6 ERG win, and a berth in Sunday’s Haas Cup finals.
“The team just didn’t control the ball the way we normally do,” said former 9-goaler and Faraway coach Julian Hipwood.
ERG will meet Faraway in the Haas Cup finals on Sunday afternoon.
First Annual International Weekend
