Coca-Cola vs. Las Monjitas
03/15/2012, 4:00 pm |
Coca-Cola - 9, Las Monjitas - 8
In the final battle for a playoff spot in the 2012 USPA Piaget Gold Cup, Coca-Cola scored a hard-fought 9-8 win over a surging Las Monjitas team Friday afternoon.
Coca-Cola team captain Gillian Johnston scored the first goal of the game, but was countered by a pair of goals from Las Monjitas 10-goaler, Eduardo Astrada. Las Monjitas took the early lead, 2-1.
Both defenses tightened up in the second period with Julio Arellano’s penalty goal the only offense in the chukker. After two periods of play, the score was all even at 2-2.
Arellano added three more goals in the third, scoring once from the field and converting two penalty goals. Javier Astrada scored one from the field as Coca-Cola move in front at the end of the first half, 5-3.
Stubborn defenses and missed scoring opportunities in the fourth chukker left Eduardo Astrada’s penalty goal as the only offense, cutting the Coca-Cola lead to a single goal, 5-4.
A determined Coca-Cola team took control of the game in the fifth and taking an 8-5 lead. A pair of penalty goals from Arellano and Hilario Ulloa’s first goal from the field had Coca-Cola leading Las Monjitas by three goals, 8-5. Javier Astrada was credited with Las Monjitas’ only goal of the chukker.
Ulloa scored again in the sixth, 9-5, before Las Monjitas put three straight goals on the scoreboard. Inaki Laprida and Javier Astrada scored single goals from the field while Eduardo Astrada converted a penalty shot for a goal. The Coca-Cola lead had been cut to a single goal and Las Monjitas had the momentum, but it wasn’t enough as Coca-Cola shut down the rally and rode off the field with a 9-8 victory and a berth in the quarterfinals.
Coca-Cola’s Julio Arellano scored five of his six goals on penalty shots and led the team in scoring. Ulloa registered two goals and Johnston scored once in the win.
Eduardo Astrada scored four times for Las Monjitas. Javier Astrada added three goals and Laprida notched a single goal in a losing effort.
