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March 4, 2007
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Catamount wins the title in exciting final
Eight-goaler Nicolas Roldan scored on a 40-yard forehand with 36 seconds left to lift Catamount over White Birch 14-13 in the championship match of the 26-goal C.V. Whitney Cup Sunday on Stanford Field at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

White Birch won the ensuing throw-in and had a chance to tie the game but Lucas Monteverde's shot was inches wide to the right with one second remaining. "At the end of the game, my heart was in my throat," said 9-goaler Adam Snow of Catamount, referring to Monteverde's final run to goal. "We told each other not to foul them, but…"

It was Catamount's second C.V. Whitney Cup title as it won it all in 2004 with a 10-9 victory over Bendabout. Catamount defeated Everglades in the semifinals in 2004. This year, Catamount again eliminated both Bendabout and Skeeterville, formerly known as Everglades, en route to the title. "It felt like a great game on the field," said Catamount patron Scott Devon, who played with a bandage covering 10 stitches in the corner of his left eye following an injury suffered in the first chukker of the semifinals. "It was a dream final."  

There were seven ties in the game, the last one at 13-13 when Monteverde converted a 15-yard penalty shot with 2:46 left in the game. Both teams missed several scoring opportunities, especially in the second half. Roldan missed a 60-yard safety early in the fifth chukker, but Monteverde missed a 40-yard penalty shot with 1:09 left in the same period as Catamount took a 13-12 lead into the final chukker. 

 

Roldan missed two more chances in the sixth as Catamount kept the pressure up – one on a near-side with 4:20 left and then on a 50-yard forehand that went wide left with 1:44 remaining. But White Birch wasn't able to dominate the throw-ins in the second half, cutting into their scoring chances. Snow said Catamount made a slight adjustment at halftime regarding the throw-ins.

 

"I went to (guarded) Mariano (Aguerre) in the second half and that helped us," said Snow. "They were winning the throw-ins in the first half."

 

This was the first tournament of the season for both teams, which reached the final with a 2-0 record after a first-round bye in the single-elimination event. Peter Brant's White Birch had won the C.V. Whitney five times, the last time in 2005.

 

Snow, who captained the Yale varsity hockey team as a senior, brought his hockey mentality and superstitions to polo – he hasn't shaved since the 26-goal tournament began. He said he wasn't sure if he would shave or wait until the team loses. Snow has now won six consecutive 26-goal games; the last three to win the 2006 Stanford U.S. Open with Las Monjitas and three with Catamount.

 

"This is our first tournament with Scott (Devon) and we're ecstatic to win," said Roldan. "We kept fighting the entire game. To beat a team like White Birch, one of the best in the United States, shows that as a team we have a lot of potential". Catamount's balanced attack proved beneficial again, as Roldan, Snow and Zegers scored four goals apiece and Devon added two goals. Monteverde led all scorers with eight goals, six on penalty conversions, while 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre added four goals and Ulysses Escapite had one goal. Roldan was named the MVP and Aguerre's 9-year-old Califa was awarded the Best Playing Pony award.