Merchant Hub notches first win; Villa Del Lago remains perfect at 3-0; Enigma goes to 2-1 By Alex Webbe Merchant Hub (Scott Swerdlin, Marianito Obregon, Facundo Obregon and Luis Escobar) recorded their first win of the season in Joe Barry memorial Cup competition at the International Polo Club Sunday afternoon by downing FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi Guille Aguero, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Juan Bollini), 11-8. The 19-goal Merchant Hub team received one goal by handicap but FlexJet scored the first goal of the game on a 30-yard penalty conversion from Guille Aguero for a1-1 tie. Miguel Novillo Astrada made it 2-1 on a goal from the field with 1:34 left in the period. Merchant Hub came alive in the second with goals from Marianito Obregon and his brother Facundo Obregon for a 3-2 edge. Astrada leveled the score at 3-3 with a goal in the final 48 seconds of the chukker. Luis Escobar scored the go-ahead goal in the opening30 seconds of the third chukker for a 4-3 Merchant Hub advantage. Astrada converted a 40-yard penalty shot for s 4-4 score. Juan Bollini and Marianito Obregon traded goals to end the first half deadlocked at 5-5. The fourth chukker remained scoreless until Marianito Obregon found Facundo with a pass that he redirected to a streaking Escobar who scored, giving the lead to Merchant Hub, 6-5. With 1:28 on the clock, Marianito Obregon scored to give Merchant Hub a two goal, 7-5 lead. Fifth chukker action got underway with Marianito Obregon scoring the first goal of the period and Facundo adding the second as Merchant Hub stretched their lead to four goals, 9-5. Astrada got FlexJet on the scoreboard with a 40-yard penalty conversion, 96, adding a goal from the field moments later to cut the Merchant Hub lead to two goals, 9-7.Facundo Obregon closed out the chukker by scoring from the field with nine seconds on the clock. With one chukker left to play, Merchant Hub held a three goal, 10-7 advantage. FlexJet pressed the attack in the sixth, with shots being blocked or going wide of the goal. Astrada converted a 30-yard penalty shot with nearly six minutes left to play, but that was where t ended. Luis Escobar scored on an impressive angle shot from just off the end line that gave Merchant Hub the security goal they needed as they rode on for the 12-8 victory.
Facundo Obregon led the Merchant Hub offense with four goals and earned MVP honors. Escobar and Marianito Obregon scored three goals apiece and the team received one goal by handicap. Astrada scored a game-high six goals (three on penalty shots). Bollini and Aguero scored single goals in the loss. Halo Polo’s Oro (played by Juan Bollini in the fifth chukker) was named Best Playing Pony. Villa Del Lago 15, Lechuza Caracas 10 In earlier Joe Barry Memorial Cup action Villa Del Lago (Jim Zenni, Agustin Obregon, Polito Pieres and Julian de Lusarreta) remained undefeated (3-0) as they bounced back from a 7-3 halftime deficit to defeat Lechuza (Peke Gonzalez, Marcos Alberdi, Juan Martin Nero and Martin Espain) , 15-10. In the opening minute of the game Lechuza’s Marcos Alberdi raced 180 yards down the field for the first goal of the game, 1-0. Polito Pieres responded two minutes later with a 60-yard penalty conversion, 1-1. Fifteen-year-old Peke Gonzalez (filling in for the absent team captain Victor Vargas) put Lechuza back on top, 3-2, with a goal from the field. After a missed scoring attempt by Vila Del Lago, Martin Espain was knocking the ball in for Lechuza when he was jumped by Pieres who skirted around him for the score, 2-2. Lechuza 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero scored the final goal of the chukker with just two seconds on the clock for an early 3-2 lead. Nero extended the Lechuza lead to two goals, 4-2 with the opening goal of the second period. Defense dominated the balance of the chukker as Lechuza rode off the field with the 4-2 advantage. Pieres opened the third period with a 30-yard penalty goal, 4-3, but Lechuza was ready. Goals from Gonzalez, Nero and Alberdi closed out the first half with Lechuza holding on to a comfortable 7-3 lead at the end of the first half. A refocused Villa Del Lago team returned to the field in the fourth period. Pieres scored four consecutive goals in the opening four minutes of play for the 7-7 tie. Nero gave the lead back to Lechuza, 8-7, with a goal from the field with 1:37 to play. Facundo Obregon tied it at 8-8, scoring with 14 seconds on the clock. Agustin Obregon found himself on the scoring end of a pass from Pieres, 9-8, to open the fifth. Nero answered with a goal from the field just a minute later, 9-9. Pieres took over scoring on an 80-yard neck shot and following it up with a 240-yard run with the ball for a goal. A minute later Pieres scored again to end o the chukker with Villa Del Lago in front by three goals, 12-9. Gonzalez scored the first goal of the sixth period, cutting the Villa Del Lago lead to a manageable two goal lead, 12-10, but that was where it ended. Peres scored from
130-yards out, 13-10, followed by single goals from Agustin Obregon and Julian de Lusarreta for the 15-10 victory. Pieres led all scoring with ten goals (two on penalty conversations). Obregon scored four times and de Lusarreta added a goal for the win. Nero led Lechuza with four goals. Alberdi and Gonzalez added three goals each in a losing effort. Enigma 14, Coca-Cola 13 Enigma (Jerome Wirth, Jeff Hall, Matias MacDonough and Carlucho Arellano) registered their second win of the season, improving their record to 2-1 as they downed Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Mason Wroe) 14-13 in a Sunday morning match. Gillian Johnston and Julio Arellano scored single goals for Coca-Cola in first chukker action. Enigma was unable to break through the Coca-Cola defense, falling behind after the opening chukker, 2-0. Enigma team captain Jerome Wirth scored in the first minute of the second chukker, 21. Arellano countered with a 30-yard penalty goal, 3-1. Enigma 7-goaler Jeff Hall cut the Coca-Cola lead to a single goal, 3-2, before leveling the score at 3-3 on a 70-yard cut shot through the Coca-Cola goalposts. Mason Wroe gave the lead back to CocaCola, 4-3, with a run and a goal from the field for the final goal of the chukker. Wirth scored a goal in the opening 30-seconds of the third, tying the game at 4-4. Consecutive goals from Matias MacDonough from the throw-ins put Enigma in the lead, 6-4. Arellano countered with a pair of 60-yard penalty goals to make it 6-6. MacDonough scored on a 40-yard penalty shot to end the first half with Enigma in control of a 7-6 score. Fourth chukker play Hall scoring the first goal of the second half for an 8-6 Enigma advantage. Arellano fired back by scoring on a 30-yard penalty shot, 8-7. Wroe tied it at 8-8 before three consecutive goals (including a Penalty 1) had Coca-Cola trailing by three goals, 11-8. Carlucho Arellano (Julio Arellano’s younger brother) was credited with two of the three penalty conversions. Coca-Cola put the pressure on Enigma in the fifth chukker, as Johnston and MacDonough traded goals in the first few minutes of the period, 12-9. Julio Arellano scored from the field, 12-10, and Sugar Erskine carried the ball over 230 yards down the field to score, 12-11. Hall scored the first goal of the sixth period, 13-11. Julio Arellano and his brother Carlucho Arellano each converted a penalty goal, but Enigma continued to enjoy the
lead, 14-12. With under a minute remaining in the game, Johnston broke loose to score the final goal of the game for a 14-13 Enigma win.