Goose Creek captures Primavera Cup in 15-12 win

By Alex Webbe

Maureen Brennan’s Goose Creek polo team captured the 2013 12-Goal Primavera
Cup at the International Polo Club Friday afternoon in fine form. After galloping out to
a comfortable 10-5 halftime start, Brennan and company coasted to a handy 15-12 win
over Iberia Bank.

Iberia Bank received one goal by handicap from the 12-goal Goose Creek team and
quickly added to it when Jared Zenni took the opening throw-in down the field for a goal
and a 2-0 lead. Goose Creek wasn’t slow to respond as they immediately pressed their
attack. A defensive penalty by Iberia Bank resulted in a goal when Goose Creek’s Tano
Vial drove the ball through the goal posts on a 60-yard penalty shot. Brandon Phillips
(filling in for an injured cote Zegers-neck) scored the final goal of the chukker for a 2-2
tie.

Goose Creek added four more goals in the second period while limiting the Iberia Bank
offense to a single penalty goal from Luis Escobar. Vial scored twice in the chukker
with one shot measuring over 130 yards while Phillips and Maureen Brennan scored
single goals for a 6-3 lead.

Four more Goose Creek goals stretched the lead to five goals with Vial adding two more
on his own and picking up single goals from Wesley Bryan and Phillips. Zenni scored
both of Iberia Bank’s goals as Goose Creek left the field at the end of the first half on
top of a 10-5 score.

Iberia Bank got off to a quick start in the second half. Zenni took the opening throw-in
150 yards down the field for a goal and then replicated the act on the ensuing throw-in
to cut the Goose Creek to a manageable 10-7. Single goals from teammates Kaisser
Maakar and Luis Escobar gave Iberia Bank a total of nine goals. Goose Creek was
held to a single goal from Phillips. With two chukkers left in regulation time, Iberia Bank
had cut the Goose Creek lead to two goals, 11-9.

Goose Creek tightened its defense in the fifth period, shutting down the Iberia Bank
attack while adding two more goals to its own total on penalty conversions from Vial. At
the end of the fifth chukker Goose Creek had a four goal, 13-9 advantage.

Sixth chukker goals from Phillips and Vial had Goose Creek ahead by six goals, 15-
9 with time running out on Iberia Bank. Gabriel Crespo converted a penalty shot for a
goal for Iberia Bank and Escobar added a goal from the field with little time left in the
game. Maakar scored the last goal of the game as time expired in the 15-12 Goose
Creek win.

Vial led all scoring with eight goals on the day and was named MVP for his efforts.
Phillips scored five times while Brennan and Bryan added single goals for the victory.
Brennan’s 10-year-old Chestnut mare, Echo, was honored as Best Playing Pony.

Zinni’s five goals topped the Iberia Bank totals with Escobar was credited with three
goals; Maakar scoring twice and Crespo converting a penalty shot for a goal.

YELLOW CAB 10, JAN PAMELA 8

Earlier in the day Yellow Cab registered a 10-8 win over Jan Pamela in the consolation
round of the 2013 12-Goal Primavera Cup.

The two teams traded goals in the opening chukker with Yellow cab getting single goals
from Jeffrey Garber and Tavi Usandizaga while Jan Pamela cashed in on a par of
penalty goals from Steve Dalton for a 2-2 stalemate.

Yellow Cab got its engine running in the second chukker with Bill Patterson and
Tavi Usandizaga scoring goals while the team’s defense kept Jan Pamela off the
scoreboard. Yellow Cab drove out to a 4-2 lead after the first two chukkers of play.

Both defenses tightened in the third, but while Jan Pamela was held scoreless for the
second consecutive chukker, Yellow managed a single goal from Guille Usandizaga for
a 5-2 halftime lead.

Mason Wroe scored twice for Jan Pamela in the fourth (one from the field and one
on a 40-yard penalty shot), but Yellow Cab responded with matching goals from the
Usandizaga brothers. At the end of the chukker the Yellow Cab lead remained at three
goals, 7-4.

Wroe converted a penalty shot for a goal in the fifth, cutting the Yellow Cab lead to two
goals, 7-5, on a Penalty 1, that awarded the team with a goal on a Jan Pamela foul in
the goal mouth, and Jeffrey Garber’s second goal from the field. The Yellow Cab lead
was four goals, 9-5, with one chukker left in regulation time.

Tavi Usandizaga’s fourth goal of the game made it 10-5, Yellow Cab when Tommy
Collingwood seemed to come alive for Jan Pamela. Three consecutive goals from the
talented 3-goaler cut into the Yellow Cab lead, 10-8, but not enough. The final horn
sounded and Yellow Cab celebrated the win.

Tavi Usandizaga led the field in scoring with four goals. Guille Usandizaga and Jeffrey
Garber scored two goals apiece and Patterson added a goal. The team also received
one goal on a Penalty 1. Wroe and Collingwood scored three goals apiece for Jan
Pamela. Dalton accounted for the other two goals in the loss.