Hanalei Bay Hangs On to Win Beal 6 Goal

When one thinks of Hanalei Bay, the thought of surfing would most certainly come to mind. You know, hanging ten and all that stuff. However, in the Carlton and Keleen Beal 6 Goal Cup final, hanging ten turned out to be the furthest thing from Krista Bonaguidi and her surfers' minds. After an exceptionally strong start, the second half was all about hanging on and just staying on the board - which they did (barely) to defeat Madelyn Cobb and Coldwell Banker Menlo by a final score of 9 - 8.The first period turned out to be rather benign with both teams having opportunities with neither able to capitalize. The only goal of the opener came from a penalty two conversion by Remy Muller and the chukker ended with the surfers leading by one.Hanalei Bay came out for the second and appeared to be much better prepared than Coldwell Banker as they dominated throughout. Counters from the field by Jesse Bray and Tony Uretz put the Hawaiians up by three with the real estate group not yet on the board.The domination that was Hanalei Bay continued in the third as they carried the play and scored on another penalty two (by Muller) and a field goal by Bray to give the surfers a lead of five goals. The Cobb Team was able to finally muster some offence that was rewarded as Sheldon was able to convert an open goal opportunity to narrow the gap to four. However, Muller scored his first from the field and the lead was once again five and it appeared that the Bonaguidi pack were going to win easily. Wasn't to be the case though as Peter Blake scored with 18 seconds left on the clock and the difference was now 'only' four goals at 6 - 2.Blake's goal - and most likely a stern 'wake-up' call during the break - most certainly set the tone for the early part of the fourth period as Coldwell Banker played the kind of polo that got them to the final. With Hanalei Bay able to do nothing, Cobb's group were now selling real estate in a big way as Blake struck for two more - one a superb deflection on a penalty four going wide - and Sheldon grabbed one to narrow the gap to just a goal at 6 - 5. However, the surfers were able to recover as Bray and Muller scored one each and the fourth ended with Hanalei Bay leading by three at 8 - 5.The scoring in the fifth was even at one as Blake counted for the Cobb Team and Muller scored his fifth for the Hawaiians. But while the scoring was even, Coldwell Banker carried the play but couldn't finish opportunities and it would ultimately finish them off as the chukker ended with Hanalei Bay leading by three at 9 - 6.The sixth started with Coldwell Banker, once again, playing 'their game' of fast and furious domination and the surfers were now trying to simply hang on. Sheldon was now playing his style of polo - quick and elusive - and he scored twice to narrow the gap to just one. With less than a minute left, and Hanalei Bay about to fall into the surf, it looked like the sales people were going to force overtime. Didn't happen as an unkind bounce ended their hope and Bonaguidi captured her second championship in two weeks.Bray earned MVP honors and Cobb, based on her strong play in the front, was selected as the Most Valuable Sponsor of the entire Beal Cup 6 Goal.Carlton and Keleen Beal Cup 2014 - 6 GoalHanalei Bay 6 - Krista Bonaguidi -1, Jesse Bray 4, Remy Muller 2, Tony Uretz 1.Coldwell Banker Menlo 6 - Madelyn Cobb, Jared Sheldon 3, Peter Blake 2, Gregorio Mariscal 1.Tony Gregg