Jan Pamela evened its record in the 14-goal Wanderers Classic at the International Polo Club Saturday morning, but it took overtime to accomplish it.
By Alex Webbe
A chilly Florida morning greeted the members of the Jan Pamela (1-1) and Flat Out (0-2) polo teams as they battled to bounce back from opening round losses in the 2012 14-goal Wanderers Classic.
Jan Pamela took early control of the game picking up an opening penalty goal from Steve Dalton and a goal from the field from Hector Galindo while holding Flat Out scoreless. After the opening seven minutes of play, Jan Pamela held a 2-0 lead.
Dalton added two more goals in the second (a penalty conversion and a goal from the field) for a 4-0 lead before Flat Out finally got on the scoreboard. Single goals from Todd Offen and Steve Krueger got Flat Out back into the game, trailing Jan Pamela 4-2.
All three goals scored in the third chukker came from the penalty line. Dalton scored twice for Jan Pamela while Offen picked up a penalty goal for Flat Out. After three chukkers Jan Pamela held a 6-3 edge.
A reinvigorated Flat Out returned to the field in the second half doubling down on defense while picking up goals from Offen and Krueger. Flat Out had cut the lead to a single goal, 6-5, and held Jan Pamela scoreless for the first time all day.
Flat Out team captain Paul Knapp tied it up in the fifth with his first goal of the day. Dalton converted a penalty shot to regain the lead for Jan Pamela, but Flat Out had suddenly proved to be hard to stop. A goal from Nick Snow tied it again at 7-7 and a final goal from Offen gave Flat Out its first lead of the day, 8-7, to end the chukker.
Jan Pamela showed its resiliency in the sixth getting consecutive goals from Dalton (penalty conversion) and Galindo and re-taking the lead, 9-8. Krueger responded for Flat Out with a tying goal on a penalty shot, and teammate Snow scored to give Flat Out a 10-9 lead. Dalton converted his seventh penalty goal of the match to even it up at 10-10 followed by a Krueger go-ahead-goal that put Flat Out on top, 11-10. With seconds remaining in regulation time, Offen split the goal posts for Flat Out, forcing a sudden-death overtime.
Just over a minute into overtime, Dalton scored the winning goal to give Jan Pamela its first win of the season.
Dalton led all scoring with eight goals.
Offen scored five times for Flat Out. Krueger scored four times; Snow added two goals to the mix; and Knapp scored once in the loss.
