Piaget Gold Cup Qualifiers still undecided
By Alex Webbe
Orchard Hill, Las Monjitas and the Hawks scored wins in Thursday’s second round of the 2010 USPA Piaget Gold Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington. The wins left the three teams with perfect 2-0 records while Pony Express, Piaget, and Bendabout all wound up with 0-2 records.
In the opening game of the day, Fred Mannix, Jr. scored the tying goal in regulation time and came back in overtime to notch the winner on the opening play of the overtime period to lead the Hawks (2-0) to a come-from-behind win over Piaget in Gold Cup play in the morning contest.
The steadily improving Bendabout/Wanderers lineup received two goals by handicap and quickly built a humble 7-6 halftime lead in a contest that both teams struggled to control.
Bendabout continued to lead with a 9-7 edge after four chukkers and an 11-10 advantage after five, but that was when everything changed. Fred Mannix, Jr. came alive in the second half of play, and in particular in the final chukker of regulation play. He scored three of his game-high seven goals in the sixth period to force an overtime chukker.
On the first play of the sudden-death period, Fred Mannix, Jr, took a pass from 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre and raced over 150 yards to score the winning goal. The victory gives the Hawks a 2-0 record and puts them in a great position to try and grab a spot in next week’s Gold Cup semifinals.
ORCHARD HILL 11, PIAGET 10
Orchard Hill 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough scored seven goals Thursday afternoon, but none was more important than his game-high seventh as his tie breaking penalty conversion lifted his team to an 11-10 win over Piaget with forty-eight seconds left on the clock.
In a see-saw battle that kept Orchard Hill (2-0) undefeated and Piaget (0-2) winless, the teams battled to a 6-6 halftime score before the Orchard Hill attack seemed to take control. Goals from MacDonough and Lucas Criado gave Orchard an 8-7 lead after the fourth, holding Piaget to a single penalty conversion from Juan Bollini.
Orchard Hill extended the lead to 10-8 after five before Piaget rushed back in the sixth and final chukker. Two goals from Bollini (one from the field and one by penalty shot) evened it at 10-10 with both teams scrambling for the deciding goal. Hector Galindo carried the ball toward the Piaget goal with less than a minute left to play when he was fouled. MacDonough converted the penalty shot with fort-eight seconds left to play for the 11-10 win.
In the day’s finale, Negro Astrada scored three of his team high six goals in the final chukker Thursday afternoon to lead his Las Monjitas (1-1) team to an exciting 13-11 win over Pony Express (0-2) in 2010 USPA Piaget Gold Cup competition
Pony Express held a 10-9 lead going into the final chukker of play, but had the game taken away from them in the final seven minutes of play as Negro Astrada took control of the game. Two goals from the field and a game-winning penalty conversion game him five goals on the day, with brother Eduardo Astrada adding six goals and brother Javier chipping in two in the win.
The neck-and-neck game was tied on five different occasions, as Las Monjitas rode out to a 6-5 halftime lead. The victory gives Las Monjitas a 2-0 record and an opportunity to make it into next week’s semifinals depending on the outcome of the weekend matches. Pony Express is out of competition for the Gold Cup with an 0-2 record.
Piaget Gold Cup play will continue on Saturday, March, 13 with matches at 1 pm (Lechuza vs. Crab Orchard) and 3 pm (Audi vs. Valiente).