Arden’s Fine Jewelers had a lot of success recently at The Villages Polo Club thanks to a little bit of structure.
Arden’s claimed The Villages Polo Club 6-Goal Pro Pool Cup title with two match victories — including the weekend finale — was because of a well-balanced attack that took advantage of throw-ins and was backed up in numbers on offensive rushes.
Arden’s started the afternoon by rallying late to beat Galaxy Home Solutions 7-6.5, then sweeping the round-robin competition with an 11-8.5 victory over Fross & Fross.
Arden’s No. 2 Miguel Lis-Planells, who scored four goals over the weekend, said, “It was an awesome weekend for us as a team. It’s always a joy to play with a well-organized group like the one we had. You can rest assured that they’re always making the best decision for you, and it’s a pleasure to play with them.”
Arden’s started the weekend finale against Fross & Fross with a 6-3.5 lead on the leaderboard and quickly extended its lead.
Paige Boone opened the scoring by smashing home a loose-ball chance in front, and Liv Berube made it 8-3.5 after one chukker.
Arden’s quick start seemed to be a carryover of momentum from the team’s come-from-behind win over Galaxy Home Solutions later in the day, in which Francisco Bilbao scored twice in the final 2:41 to beat Galaxy Home Solutions.
“Getting some peace of mind and scoring early was certainly necessary,” Lis-Planells said. “Obviously, getting a lead in the first three chukkers is the most challenging. However, scoring a couple of goals early on, particularly after our first match of the day, gave us some confidence that we could win.”
Late in the first, Fross & Fross pulled within 8-5.5 on goals from Nate Berube and Thom Fross, only for Arden’s to reclaim the lead with two second-chukker goals from Liv Berube.
Mrs. Berube’s first goal was set up by Francisco Bilbao’s genius goal-mouth pass, which placed the one-time chance right on her mallet to give Arden’s a 9-5.5 lead.
On her third count of the afternoon, Liv Berube did almost all of the grunt work, taking a give-and-go feed from Boone and hooting up the near-side boards before cutting a shot from a tough angle via the pipes to win the hat trick.
Arden’s gaining a throw-in was crucial to their success on the day, as was Lis-Planells’ third-and-final-chukker goal on a breakaway.
“It’s just so much easier to arrange your (offensive) assault if you can take possession off the throw-in,” Lis-Planells said. “Statistically, the team that wins more throw-ins has a much greater chance of winning the game. They’re always vital to getting the team started and heading in the right direction, and we were able to use them today.”
– Attributed Source, The Villages Daily Sun
