Emlor Controls Open Play in Victory Over Les Lions
The feature game of the week on the Queen’s Ground at the Guards Polo Club saw Emlor put forth a dominant performance in the 12-9 victory over Les Lions in the 2018 Cartier Queen’s Cup.
In a game that saw both teams find their offense in different ways, it was Emlor’s dominance in open play that proved to be the difference, despite allowing seven penalty goals from Les Lions. Outshooting their opponents 18-7, Emlor used their set plays to generate their offense, while holding Les Lions without a field goal until the fifth chukka. Conceding nine penalty attempts, Emlor was able to overcome their foul troubles by using effective 61% shooting to complete the 12-9 victory.
Early in the game, Emlor utilized Spencer McCarthy in the #1 position, as he scored a goal in each of the first three chukkas, while the other three Emlor players contributed a goal each from the field. Taking advantage of unforced Les Lions errors and winning the throw-in battle 7-3 in the first half, Emlor won the field advantage, while holding Les Lions to 0 for 5 shooting. Three missed penalty attempts for Emlor kept Les Lions within reach as Joaquin Pittaluga converted all three attempts to keep his team trailing by just two goals entering the second half.
The second half featured more dominance from Emlor as they continued to heavily outshoot their opponents, putting nine more shots at goal, while Les Lions managed just two. The fourth chukka was all Emlor as Nacho Gonzalez led the way with two goals in the chukka. However, the story of the game was Emlor continually placing Pittaluga on the penalty line to keep Les Lions within reach as he received six more penalty attempts in the second half. Converting four of the six, Pittaluga finished with eight of Les Lions’ nine goals in the game, but ultimately the ability of Emlor to control open play and convert at a high rate resulted in the convincing three goal victory.