Crab Orchard manhandles Orchard Hill in 12–9 US Open win

Crab Orchard manhandles Orchard Hill
in 12-9 win

By Alex Webbe

Crab Orchard (Peke Gonzalez, Magoo Laprida, Facundo Pieres and
Paco de Narvaez) registered the first win of the 2014 Maserati US Open
Championship with a 12-9 win over Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Santiago
Chavanne, Pablo MacDonough and Matias MacDonough) Sunday afternoon at the
International Polo Club.

Facundo Pieres scored the first goal of the game in the
opening seconds of the first chukker to post Crab Orchard to a 1-0 start.  Paco de Narvaez made it 2-0 just a moment
later while Orchard Hill struggled to organize their defense.  The final goal of the period was scored by
Orchard Hill team captain Steve Van Andel. 
Crab Orchard left the field with the early 2-1 lead.

Over two minutes elapsed in the second chukker before a Crab
Orchard foul sent Matias MacDonough to the penalty line where he converted a
30-yard shot to tie it at 2-2.  With both
teams battling for control of the ball, scoring was at a standstill until the
final seconds of the chukker when Peke Gonzalez (filling in for the injured team
captain George Rawlings) broke loose and raced down the field to score the
go-ahead goal with 26 seconds on the clock. 
After two chukkers Crab Orchard continued to lead, 3-2.

Crab Orchard 10-goaler Facundo Pieres gave a demonstration
in horsemanship and ball control in the third period.  Pieres opened the third with a 60-yard
penalty conversion for a goal just 16 seconds into the chukker, 4-2Less than a
minute later Pieres made it 5-2 on a goal from the field.  An Orchard Hill foul sent Pieres to the
penalty line once again with 1:51 on the clock where he converted a 40-yard
shot for a score, 6-2.  In a final
desperate act, Pablo MacDonough kept the Orchard Hill hopes alive by driving
the ball through the goal posts with 30 seconds on the clock.  At the end of the first half Crab Orchard sat
on top of a 6-3 score and Orchard Hill didn’t seem to know how to stop them.

Pieres scored two more goals (one on a penalty shot) to open
the second half with Crab Orchard stretching their lead to five goals, 8-3.  Pablo MacDonough scored for Orchard Hill at
the 2:24 mark, 8-4.  Paco de Narvaez scored
his second goal of the day to make it 9-4. 
Matias MacDonough cut into the Crab Orchard lead with a goal in the
final four seconds of the chukker but Crab Orchard held a comfortable four goal
advantage, 9-5.

The fifth chukker belonged to Pieres as he added three
consecutive goals (two on penalty shots) to give Crab Orchard a seven goal
edge, 12-5.  Ten-goaler Pablo MacDonough
scored the final goal of the chukker on a long run with 18 seconds left in the
period.  Crab Orchard continued to
control the game with a six goal lead, 12-6.

Orchard Hill continued to press in the final chukker of
play, but Crab Orchard was clearly not concerned.  Matias MacDonough scored just a minute into
the final chukker, 12-7, and teammate Santiago Chavanne added a goal at the
4:44 mark, 12-8, but time was running out and Crab Orchard continued to play
keep away with the ball.  Pablo
MacDonough scored the final goal of the game on a pass from his brother Matias
(1:28), but there was no more rally left as Crab Orchard rode out the clock for
the 12-9 victory.

Pieres led all scoring with nine goals (five goals on
penalty conversions).  De Narvaez added
two goals and Gonzalez scored once for the win. 
Pablo MacDonough led the Orchard Hill attack with four goals.  Matias MacDonough scored three times (once on
a penalty shot) and Chavanne and Van Andel each added a goal in the loss.

De Narvaez was named MVP for his efforts while Pablo
MacDonough’s Venturosa was honored as
Best Playing Pony.

Maserati US Open play continues on Monday, March 31 with a
3pm contest between Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and
Adolfo Cambiaso) and Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Nico Pieres, Juan Martin
Nero and Nico Espain).