By Rebecca Baldridge
Photos By ChukkerTV
WELLINGTON, FL, March 20, 2021— Dundas defeated Newport by 12-10 to capture the title in the Sieber Memorial.
Dundas (Cable Magness, Juan Cruz Marcos, Hugo Taylor and Tatu Gomez Romero) faced off against Newport (Gene Goldstein, Milo Dorignac, Michel Dorignac, and Nick Manifold) yesterday in the final match of the Sieber Memorial. Newport, a 12-goal team, ceded one goal to 11-goal Dundas on handicap. The two teams had met earlier in the tournament, with Newport besting Dundas by 15-11.
Neither team wasted any time feeling out the other, and both played aggressively from the first throw-in. Newport’s Michel Dorignac, the highest rated player on the field at 6 goals, put the first goal on the board with a successful Penalty 2 conversion. With 2:41 on the clock, Tatu Gomez Romero broke away from his pursuers to put the ball through the posts and his team in the lead at 2-1. With just over a minute left to play, Michel Dorignac stole the ball from Gomez Romero to score his second goal of the chukker and tie the score at 2-all. As the clock ticked down after the 30-second horn, Englishman Hugo Taylor took control and swept the ball through the uprights to end the period with Dundas leading 3-2.
Dundas managed to stymie Newport in the second period, keeping them away from the goal and thwarting their efforts to score. Hugo Taylor knocked the ball in once again, and Gomez Romero followed up with back-to-back goals to end the chukker with Dundas leading 6-2. Newport continued to suffer in the third period, and their only goal came from a Penalty 4 shot by Michel Dorignac. Cable Magness took a successful shot on goal, reliably followed by Taylor and Gomez Romero. Dundas ended the half with a decisive lead of 9-3.
After their disappointing first half, Newport returned to the field with renewed determination and began to fight their way back, outscoring Dundas in the fourth and fifth chukkers. At the top of the fourth chukker, just over a minute into play, Gene Goldstein stayed ahead of his pursuers to sweep the ball through the goal. Less than a minute later, Michel Dorignac got out in front to score his fourth goal of the day. With 3:29 left on the clock, Nick Manifold broke away to put the ball through the posts for Newport again. At 2:27, Juan Cruz Marcos scored the only goal for Dundas, ending the period with Dundas leading 10-6.
Newport continued their hot streak in the fifth chukker, keeping Dundas off the board while racking up another three goals to put them within one goal of Dundas. Nick Manifold and Milo Dorignac shot from the field to score, while Michel Dorignac enjoyed another success from the penalty line. Going into the final chukker, it was anyone’s match. Gomez Romero took Dundas up to 11 goals on the board, but a foul by the team in black gave Michel Dorignac the opportunity to convert another Penalty 2. Unfortunately for Newport, they lost some of the momentum from the previous two chukkers and were unable to score from the field. A final goal from Gomez Romero saw Dundas defeat Newport by 12-10.
Tatu Gomez Romero was named the Most Valuable Player. Leona, played by Cable Magness in the second chukker, took the honor of Best Playing Pony.
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