Wanderers, Lucchese and Zacara all score wins

By Alex Webbe

Daily News Polo Columnist

The Wanderers/Isla Carroll polo team drove off with a 3-0 lead after the first chukker of play and held on to secure an 9-5 win over Mount Brilliant in second round play of the 2010 Ylvisaker Cup at The International Polo Club in Wellington Wednesday afternoon. Earlier games saw Zacara spank Bendabout 12-5 while Lucchese curbed Yellow Cab 14-8 as the action in the 20-goal competition continued to heat up.

The team is really well mounted,” said Kris Kampsen about his team’s win over Mount Brilliant. “Sugar (Erskine) has some unbelievable horses and Nacho (Figueras) has some great horses. John (Goodman) is playing some great polo, and really supplies the engine for the team,” he added.

Mt. Brilliant rallied with a pair of goals from Francisco Irastorza and a single goal from Chris Nevins, but the Wanderers left the field at the end of the first half with a 4-3 advantage.

“They’re a really tough team,” said Nacho Figueras of the Mt. Brilliant lineup. “We relied on horsepower and teamwork for the win today.”

The defenses tightened in the fourth chukker with Kampsen scoring a goal from the field while Santiago Chavanne converted a penalty shot for Mt. Brilliant’s only goal. The Wanderers continued to lead, 5-4.

Three goals in the fifth chukker and shutout defense by the Wanderers turned the tide for the Wanderers as Figueras scored a pair from the field and Kampsen converted a penalty shot to give the Wanderers an 8-4 edge going into the final chukker of regulation play.

Kampsen opened the scoring in the sixth period with a penalty goal from the Wanderers to go ahead, 9-4 as Mt. Brilliant (fought to stay in the game. A final penalty shot conversion by Irastorza ended the scoring and the game with the Wanderers (2-0) on top, 9-5.

Kampsen led all scoring with four goals. Erskine and Figueras scored two goals apiece and John Goodman notched a single goal in the win.

Irastorza scored three times for Mt. Brilliant, Chavanne and Nevins scored single goals.

LUCCHESE 14, YELLOW CAB 8

Pancho Bensadon and Luis Escobar scored seven goals apiece as Lucchese rolled over Simon Garber’s Yellow Cab team 14-8 in a one-sided contest.

A veteran of a month’s worth of tournament games, Lucchese took it out on fledgling Yellow Cab as they rocketed to an 8-1 halftime lead.

“We were trying to keep pushing,” said Escobar of the Lucchese team effort. “We concentrated on holding our positions and to stay patient.”

Lucchese led Yellow Cab 12-5 in the fourth chukker, and in spite of the efforts of the struggling Yellow Cab team, sailed to a 14-8 victory.

Tommy Biddle led Yellow Cab with five goals with each of his teammates (Simon Garber, Guille Usandizaga and Chino Frayssinet) scoring single goals in the effort.

ZACARA 13, BENDABOUT 8

In a game that wasn’t as close as the lopsided score indicates, Zacara (2-0) hammered Bendabout (0-2) 13-8 in the day’s morning contest.

Zacara lead 9-1 at halftime as Bendabout struggled to find any sort of offense. Time after time Zacara’s Jeff Hall could be seen breaking free from the pack and carrying the ball down the field toward the goal with seemingly little or no opposition.

Hall led all scoring with seven goals on the day. Teammate Toto Collardin scored four times and Gonzalo del Tour chipped in a pair of goals in the victory.

Bendabout’s Nick Roldan scored six times while team captain Gillian Johnston scored twice on the day.

Ylvisaker Cup action continues today with a single game slated to be played between Faraway Polo and Lechuza Caracas at 3 pm.

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TAGS: 2010 IPC, American Polo, American Polo Series, Andres Weisz, Bo Goodman, Chris Nevins, International Polo Club, John Goodman, John Muse, Kris Kampsen, Lucchese, Lucchese boot Company, Luis Escobar, Nacho Figueras, Pancho Bensadon, Polo Players, Polo Tournament, Santiago Chavanne, Simon Garber, Sugar Erskine, Tommy Biddle, Wellington, Wellington Florida, Yellow Cab, Ylvisaker Cup