Bridgehamton-Two Trees Cup final
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Lechuza beats Heathcote 12-11 in overtime for the Cup
By Alex Webbe
Tomas Goti scored the winning goal in overtime as Lechuza (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Juan Martin Nero and Tomas Goti) beat Heathcote 12-11 in the finals of the Two Trees Cup at the Bridgehampton Polo Club Sunday afternoon.
Heathcote received three goals by handicap but were blanked in the first two chukkers as Lechuza rode out to a 5-3 lead.
Tomas Goti scored three goals for Lechuza in the opening chukker (two on penalty conversions), and Victor Vargas and Goti added single scores in the second for the two goal lead.
Two penalty goals from Tommy Biddle and a goal from the field from Nick Manifold got Heathcote back into the game in the third, tying Lechuza 6-6 at the end of the first half of play. Lechuza 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero scored his team’s only goal of the chukker.
The two teams exchanged goals in the fourth. Biddle converted a 40-yard penalty shot to put Heathcote up, 7-6 while Nero answered with a goal from the field to lock it up at 7-7 going into the fifth period.
Both offenses got on track in the fifth chukker. Goti scored on a 30-yard penalty shot, giving Lechuza an 8-7 advantage but Manifold answered back with a goal from the field, 8-8. Nero put Lechuza on top once again with his third goal of the game, 9-8 and Goti converted a Safety to give Lechuza a two goal lead, 10-8 with time running down. Lechuza miscues, however, sent Biddle to the penalty line twice in the waning minutes of play where he converted two penalty shots to deadlock it at 10-10 to end the chukker.
Vargas scored the opening goal of the sixth period, but Heathcote team captain, Steve Lefkowitz, kept his team’s hopes alive by tying it up once again and forcing overtime.
It was Goti who scored the golden goal in the extra period, giving the win to Victor Vargas’s Lechuza team.
Goti led all scoring with seven goals (four on penalty conversions). Nero added three goals and Vargas was credited with two goals on the day. Biddle scored all five of his goals on penalty shots for Heathcote. Manifold recorded two goals and Lefkowitz scored once in the loss.
Victor Vargas was named MVP while Nick Manifold’s mare, Camarra, received Best Playing Pony Honors.