After trailing 8-1 in the third period, White Birch turned the tables on Audi to win the East Coast Open in a tense overtime match at the Greenwich Polo Club on September 11.

Played on the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, flags were lowered to half-mast and the Second Company Governor’s Horse Guard paid tribute to those that lost their lives in the tragedy.

The tournament, played in a cross bracket, started on August 27 with eight teams, two led by women: Maureen Brennan’s 20-goal Goose Creek team and Annabelle Gundlach’s 19-goal Postage Stamp Farm. The East Coast Open is played as a 20-goal tournament.

Airstream, sponsored by Peter Orthwein, was the only team rated above 20 goals. Just prior to the team’s first game, its No. 1 Agustin Bottaro was raised from A to 2 goals. He was allowed to compete, but the team had to give the goal difference whenever it played.

The tournament officially kicked off with a draw party at Shreve, Crump & Low jewelers on Greenwich Avenue. Bottaro and Santino Magrini stood outside with polo ponies Gata Flaca and Calypso to greet the 100 or so guests. Players caught up and reminisced.

Last season, the East Coast Open final between Audi and White Birch was one of the most competitive games played that year. With White Birch leading 7-6 at the half and 13-12 with two minutes left, Audi’s Miguel Novillo Astrada hooked Mariano Aguerre, who was on a breakaway. In the down motion of the hook, Astrada backed the ball to Marc Ganzi, who was fouled in front of the goal. The resulting penalty tied the match, sending it into overtime.

White Birch won the throw-in to start the seventh chukker with Ulloa headed to goal, but Astrada rode him off and backed the ball to Ganzi, who passed to Roldan for the victory.

This year had some similarities, like the game going into overtime and back shots proving crucial to the win. But while last year had the teams neck and neck for the entire game, this year was very different.

Both Audi and White Birch came into the semifinals with 3-0 records. Audi trounced Goose Creek 11-6 to advance, while White Birch defeated a scrappy Airstream team 10-8. Interestingly enough, the difference was the handicap goals Airstream had to give to White Birch. White Birch, with 11 East Coast Open wins, wanted to make it an even dozen. Audi was hoping to defend its title.

Audi came out on fire with Sebastian Merlos scoring once and Nic Roldan scoring twice before a Penalty 4 conversion by Ulloa put White Birch on the board. Audi ended the chukker with Nic on a breakaway, only to leave the ball in the goal mouth for Ulloa to clear.

Audi kept up the pressure in the second and White Birch was looking desperate. White Birch was called for an uneven ride-off, giving Audi a Penalty 3, which Roldan easily converted. Merlos then found the mark with a tough, angled neckshot in a melee by the goal.

Moments later, Ganzi carried the ball more than half the field to score his first goal. On the next play, Nic took a pass from Sebastian on a great run downfield. It looked to be a sure goal, but the ball bounced off Ulloa’s horse in the goal mouth, letting White Birch breath a sigh of relief.

Audi regained possession of the ball and Nic was again running to goal when Magrini was called for dangerous riding. A Penalty 5 from the spot saw Merlos shoot to goal but the ball bounced wide. With just 26 seconds left, the whistle ended the chukker. White Birch was getting run away with and was going to have to slow the game down if it wanted a chance at the trophy.

Ulloa said, “We finished the first chukker and they were killing us. They were beating us everywhere and we said, what should we do? The second chukker was worse and third chukker even worse. It was like a nightmare for us.”

The third chukker began with a Penalty 2 for Audi, which Nic easily popped through the posts. Audi won the ensuing bowl-in with Nic again running to goal, giving Audi a comfortable 8-1 lead. White Birch got its first field goal when Mariano Aguerre ran past three red shirts to score. Audi got it back after White Birch was again whistled on a play and Roldan sunk the Penalty 3.

Magrini hopped on a loose ball and headed to goal but the ball took a bad bounce. Merlos got the backshot but fouled the second man, giving Ulloa a chance from the 30-yard line, which he scored. A minute later, Ulloa was set up at the 60-yard line, which he just as easily converted, cutting White Birch’s deficit to five, 9-4 at the half. The half ended with a whistle after a tussle along the boards.

While Ulloa thought White Birch did not do well in the third, Aguerre disagreed. “The third chukker we played well. We showed some light but we knew we had to change things. We sent Peter to Sebastian. We started being tougher on the man. Santino ... kept Leo ... away from us and that is the only way we could get to Nic. If not, Leo holds you for a second and Nic is gone and that is what was happening the first two chukkers.”

The flow of the game changed in the fourth chukker. The long runs seen in the first half were largely absent while White Birch methodically clawed its way back into the game. Aguerre explained, “We knew if we played their running and hitting game, we were going to get killed. So we said, do not release the ball until one of our guys is free.”

The fourth period began with a penalty shot along the boards for Audi. White Birch was on offense and Ganzi lost his mallet defending. He did not give up and rode off Aguerre, but Roldan also came in and drew the umpire’s whistle. Ulloa picked up another Penalty 4 to cut the deficit to four. White Birch headed to goal off the next throw-in but the ball went wide of the goal.

Audi sent the ball to the other end of the field but it made its way back and Magrini sent it through the goal. After a few minutes of back and forth, Magrini hustled Roldan, who accidentally knocked it over his own endline. It set Ulloa up with a Penalty 6 but Audi dodged a bullet when it bounced off an Audi player clearing the ball. With less than a minute in the chukker, Aguerre passed to Ulloa who sent it from his nearside into the goal, cutting the deficit to just two, 9-7, with 14 minutes left in the game. It was the first chukker in the tournament that Audi was unable to reach the goal.

The fifth chukker had the teams jockeying for position and the ball bounced back and forth between the teams. Then, Audi was whistled for a right-of-way infraction. Ulloa shot the ball about six feet off the ground, hitting an Audi player and bouncing wide. Ulloa got another shot 60 yards from where the ball went wide, but this time he hit it high above the defenders to bring White Birch within one goal. Roldan took the ball and ran from the throw in, hitting it out of the air but the ball went just wide.

With 3:36 left in the fifth, Audi got the ball back toward White Birch’s goal. Merlos finessed the ball through a crowd in front of the goal. Aguerre tried to back it but the ball grazed him as it reached the goal. Audi had widened the gap back to two, but the next play had Roldan getting caught in a foul giving Ulloa an easy shot from the 30-yard penalty line to bring it back within a goal at 10-9.

Audi got the ball back toward goal but was whistled, giving possession back to White Birch. Audi regained control and shot to goal, but the ball went wide.

The last chukker was anyone’s game. Audi would need to go back to its original game of big passes if it was going to win. Merlos had a chance, running the ball to goal, but the ball went off his cane and went wide. A minute later Ulloa made a mad dash to goal, tying it up with 4:50 left in regulation. The crowd went wild.

With 3:34 left, a White Birch player was whistled, giving Audi a Penalty 5 from the spot. It was within range, but Merlos elected to tap. He got by everyone to score, putting Audi back on top 11-10. The teams continued to battle and with Ulloa trying to get through traffic, White Birch was awarded a Penalty 3 with 1:16 left. Despite a bouncing pony, Ulloa rocketed the ball through the goal to tie the game. Merlos picked up the ball with 30 seconds left, headed to goal and gave a last ditch shot at 80 yards out, but the ball just went wide.

Meanwhile, Peter Brant came off his horse at mid-field. After about 10 minutes, Justin Daniels mounted up in Brant’s place. With 24 seconds left on the clock, Audi was given a Penalty 5 from the spot. Merlos tried to tap to goal but it was stolen by White Birch. Daniels had a big hit that sent the ball to mid-field just as the chukker ended. The game would be decided in overtime.

In overtime, the ball went up and down the field until Roldan backed the ball off the endline and onto the mallet of young Magrini. In a split second he made a quick backshot cut to goal and it found the mark. It was a beauty and it won the game! Afterward, Magrini told Chukker TV, “I just closed my eyes and hit the ball! It was great.”

Brant was well enough to make it to the trophy presentation to accept the historic Perry Trophy, even though he had to be helped on to the trophy stand, his knee wrapped in ice. The MVP award went to Nic Roldan while Best Playing Pony went to Mariano Aguerre’s Los Machitos Bersuit, a 9-year-old chestnut mare bred and raised by Aguerre’s Los Machitos, which Aguerre played in the crucial fifth chukker.

Ulloa said, “We didn’t have a good game but we had a good comeback. ... We were killed in the first three chukkers. They played better than us. I don’t know what we did but luckily we did something good that helped us comeback really well. We played better.”

There was something Aguerre and Ulloa agreed on when Aguerre said, “Last year we should have won it and we lost. Today we should have lost it and we won.” The final was re-broadcast on NBC Sports on September 17.

The USPA held its annual fall meetings in Greenwich around the East Coast Open tournament.

By Gwen Rizzo