Spring Is In The Aer-ena!

             March 29-30, 2008, Anthony Farm, Portsmouth:  …An outdoor tournament in March is always a welcome harbinger of spring, especially when Mother Nature provided a clear blue sky as the backdrop and the full sunshine drew a gaggle of supporters.  The picture-perfect weekend made for two 4-chukker preliminary matches on Saturday whose winners would advance to the final and runners up to the consolation rounds on the following day. 

            In the opening match, Nauman Malik playing #1, Sofie Plowright at #2 and Steve Smith at #3 donned Red jerseys to take on Minnie Keating at #1, Tony Fonseca at #2 and Dan Keating at #3 in the Red & Black jerseys.   Matthew Fonseca and Dori Burner officiated.  In the first chukker, Sofie scored for Red, followed by Steve to take an early 2 point lead until Dan split the difference with the first goal for Red & Black, but Sofie padded Red’s lead with another point until Tony came alive with a goal for Red & Black, followed by a penalty 2 conversion by Minnie to end the chukker in a 3-3 tie.  Steve came out swinging in the second chukker to take back the lead but defensive playing made further scoring elusive until another penalty 2 conversion by Minnie ended the chukker with a 4-4 tie.  Red & Black went ahead by two points after a pair of goals by Dan in the third, but Red tried to claw their way back with a goal by Nauman until Dan eliminated the gain with another goal to end the chukker in the lead 7-5.  A penalty 4 conversion by Nauman opened the fourth chukker but Dan struck again for Red & Black, until Steve unleashed a pair of goals to tie the score, taking the dual into overtime with 8 points each.  Minnie’s goal in Sudden Death gave Red & Black the 9-8 victory and berth in the final.

           The second preliminary match pitted Dori Burner at #1, Dennis Mikolich and Tim Day at #2 and Matthew Fonseca at #3 in Royal Blue jerseys against Jacki Shore at #1, Sam Shore at #2 and Jonathan Kaye at #3 in Red White & Blue.  Dan and Tony officiated.  Dori opened the scoring for Royal in the first chukker, followed by a pair of goals by Matthew but Sam got his team on the scoreboard before the end of the chukker to trail 3-1.  Matthew picked up where he left off when the second chukker got under way, but Sam and JK chipped away at the lead to within a point, ending the period 4-3.  In the third chukker, scoring went back and forth, starting and ending with Matthew, and Jacki in between to bring the tally to 6-4.  JK opened the fourth chukker with a penalty 2 conversion point, but Matthew erased the gain, inciting Sam and JK to score the next two points to tie, but Matthew had the final say in the end for the 8-7 victory to advance to Sunday’s finals.  

 

            On Sunday, the fire pit was torched to provide ambient heat for the onlookers and to fuel the grilling that followed the matches.  Appetites were wetted as the drama unfolded.  The consolation round became an ambush when Nauman Malik, the 1-man scoring machine at #1 in Red, with Sofie Plowright at #2 and Steve Smith at #3 faced off against Jacki Shore / Jenn Mitchell alternating at #1 for Red White & Blue, joined by Sam Shore at #2 and JK at #3.  Nauman had a hat trick in the first chukker, interrupted only once by a single point for the opposing team, scored by JK, for a 3-1 lead.  In the second chukker, Nauman continued scoring every other goal for another hat trick, but JK turned up the heat with a pair of goals, and Sam scored, plus a penalty 1 against Red brought the score to within a point, at 6-5.  In the third chukker, the Red team was held hostage without a single goal while Jacki, Sam and JK had a 7-goal spree that went something like this: a penalty 4 conversion and a pair of field goals by JK, followed by a goal for Sam, then another goal by JK, a goal by Jacki and a final goal by JK to end the chukker 12-6.  JK did not answer questions from the audience about performance-enhancing little blue pills.  In the final chukker, the Red team managed to break free of their bondage, as evidenced by…you guessed it ~ another hat trick by Nauman, abbreviated by only one goal from JK but enhanced by a penalty 1 against the opponents, but it was not enough to overcome the assualt of the previous chukker, for a 13-10 consolation victory by the Red White & Blue.

            The final was contested by the Royal Blue team with Tim Day and Dennis Mikolich at #1, Dori Burner at #2 and Matthew Fonseca at #3, playing against the Red & Black team of Minnie Keating at #1, Tony Fonseca at #2 and Dan Keating at #3.  Sofie Plowright and Steve Smith officiated.  Dan got the action going with the first goal of the match but Matthew responded with back to back goals to take the lead until Dan tied it at 2-2.   The second chukker started like the first, with a go-ahead goal by Dan, then Tony padded the lead, but Dori scored a field goal and converted a penalty 3 for an additional point to tie the score, until Minnie scored the tie-breaker to end the chukker with a 5-4 lead.  Matthew opened the scoring in the third chukker to even the score, and Tim followed suit with a point to take the lead but Tony got busy scoring the next two goals to recapture the lead 7-6.  In the final chukker Dan added an insurance goal to their lead but Matthew gave it right back, then Tony scored, bringing Matthew to a two-goal crescendo to end the period tied 9-9, heading for Sudden Death.  After several suspenseful minutes into overtime play, Tony broke lose to score the winning goal for the 10-9 victory.

           

            Cold dirt beer and chili dogs were heartily consumed after the match over conversations of how often a repeat of the weekend could be arranged.  For those interested in participating in future spring arena flings, contact Matthew at fonseca3915@gmail.com