By ALEX WEBBE
Daily News Polo Columnist
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
WELLINGTON — Kris Kampsen scored a game-high eight goals for The Wanderers/Isla Carroll Wednesday at the International Polo Club, but it was the balanced attack of Patagones that earned it a berth in Sunday’s Iglehart Cup finals on the strength of its 16-14 win.
“We just had to correct what we were doing wrong,” Carlos Avendano said of the team’s comeback victory. “We had to stay disciplined and hold our positions,” he added.
Patagones got off to an early 3-0 lead on the strength of two goals from Julio Gracida and a single goal from Avendano before The Wanderers could respond. Single goals from Nacho Figueras and Kampsen ended the chukker with Patagones ahead 3-2.
Figueras tied it to open the second period, and Kampsen put The Wanderers on top with his second goal of the game. Gonzalo Avendano answered for Patagones with a goal before goals from Kampsen and Sugar Erskine put The Wanderers on top 6-4.
The Wanderers continued to pound Patagones’ defense in the third chukker, getting two more goals from Kampsen and another from Erskine. Brothers Carlos and Gonzalo Avendano both scored for Patagones, but it trailed at halftime, 9-6.
“We decided that we just needed to get back to basics,” said Patagones 8-goaler Carlos Gracida. “We stopped asking Gonzalo to cover the higher rated players and just to stay out in front of the lineup.”
The strategy began to work as Patagones cut the lead to a pair of goals at the end of the fourth chukker, 11-9.
Kampsen opened the fifth with two goals to give The Wanderers a 13-9 advantage, but three Patagones goals made it a one-goal game, with The Wanderers holding a 13-12 edge.
Carlos Gracida tied it to open the sixth chukker, and after that Patagones never trailed. Julio Gracida closed out the Patagones scoring with two goals in the 16-14 win, putting them against the Hawks in the 2010 Iglehart Cup finals on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Kampsen led all scorers with eight goals. Erskine added four goals and Figueras scored twice in the loss.
Julio Gracida scored five times for Patagones. The Avendano brothers scored four goals apiece, and Carlos Gracida added three in the win.
TAGS: bagatelle nyc, Brunch, Iglehart Cup, John Goodman, Palm Beach, South Florida, Sunday Brunch, Sunday Polo, Wellington 
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