Valiente and Tonkawa win,
Advance to Joe Barry Memorial Cup finals
By Alex Webbe
In the highest scoring game of the season, Tonkawa (Jeff
Hildebrand, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade and Tomas Alberdi) defeated Los
Manchitos/Heathcote (Steve Lefkowitz, Sterling Giannico, Mariano Aguerre and Matias
Magrini) 18-16 in Thursday’s opening semifinal of the 2014 Joe Barry Memorial
Cup at the International Club in Wellington.
Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade scored the first goal of
the game in the first 31 seconds of play to put Tonkawa ahead, 1-0. Matias Magrini responded with a 30-yard
penalty shot for Los Manchitos/Heathcote to tie it up, 1-1. Gonzalito Pieres took the ensuing throw-in
and raced 150 yards for the go-ahead goal, 2-1, and added another goal from the
field with just over a minute left to play in the opening chukker, 3-1.
Magrini cut the lead to a single goal with his second goal
of the day, 3-2. Pieres made it 4-2 with
his third goal of the game, but the rest of the chukker belonged to Los
Manchitos/Heathcote. A goal from team
captain Steve Lefkowitz was followed by goals from teammates Mariano Aguerre
and Magrini (penalty conversion) as Los Manchitos/Heathcote ended the second
chukker with a 5-4 lead.
Tonkawa stormed back in the third. Pieres scored twice (one on a penalty shot)
in the opening minute of play to give the lead back to Tonkawa, 6-5. Aguerre tied it up at 6-6 with a goal from
the field, but Tonkawa continued to press the attack. A rarely called Penalty 1 awarded a goal to Tonkawa,
7-6, but Magrini rallied to tie it up at 7-7, on a 40-yard penalty conversion less
than a minute later. Lefkowitz gave the
lead back to Los Manchitos/Heathcote, 8-7 with his second goal of the day, but Tonkawa
closed out the chukker with three consecutive goals for the 10-8
advantage. Pieres scored on a brilliant
shot from the boards from nearly 90-yards out while Andrade followed up with a
goal from the field just a minute later.
With 34 seconds on the clock, Pieres converted a difficult neck shot
through the goalposts just yards from the end-line for a 10-8 halftime lead.
Andrade opened the second half with an impressive neck-shot
that had Tonkawa leading by three goals, 11-8.
Pieres converted a penalty shot for a four goal lead, 12-8. Magrini and Andrade traded goals, 13-9, with Magrini
getting in the final word on a 40-yard penalty goal. Tonkawa continued to lead, 13-10.
A re-focused Los Manchitos/Heathcote team returned to the
field for the fifth chukker. Magrini
scored the first two goals of the chukker, cutting the Tonkawa lead to a single
goal, 13-12. Pieres converted a 60-ard
penalty shot for a goal and a 14-12 Tonkawa lead. Magrini added another goal, Pieres responded,
15-13. Sterling Giannico scored his first goal of the day and the day ended
with Tonkawa sitting on top of a 15-14 score.
Sixth chukker goals from Giannico and Magrini were countered
by a Tonkawa goal from team captain Jeff Hildebrand and a pair of goals from
Pieres (one on a 40-yard penalty conversion) for the 18-16 Tonkawa win and a
berth in Sunday’s tournament final.
Pieres led all scoring with a whopping 12 goals on the day
(four on penalty shots). Andrade was
credited with four goals while Hildebrand added a goal for the win. Tonkawa was also awarded a goal by
penalty. Magrini scored ten times (four on
penalty shots) for Los Manchitos/Heathcote.
Aguerre, Giannico and Lefkowitz each scored twice in a losing effort.
VALIENTE 11,
COCA-COLA 10
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Roberto
Zedda) wrapped up the other spot in the Joe Barry Memorial cup final with an
exciting 11-10 win over a talented Coca-Cola lineup (Gillian Johnston, Jeff
Hall, Julio Arellano and Nick Morrison) in a Thursday afternoon contest.
Jeff Hall scored early for Coca-Cola, with Valiente’s Sapo
Caset tying it up at the 4:56 mark of the opening chukker. Caset’s second goal of the game had Valiente
up 2-1, but the lead was temporary. Julio Arellano leveled the score at 2-2 and team
captain Gillian Johnston’s scored to put Coca-Cola on top, 3-2. Caset’s third goal on the day deadlocked it
at 3-3, but Coca-Cola wasn’t through just yet.
Johnston’s second goal of the chukker came with just 37 seconds left in
the chukker and put Coca-Cola in front, 4-3 to end first chukker play.
Caset scored three goals (two on penalty shots) in the second
period to give the lead back to Valiente, 6-5.
Coca-Cola managed a single goal on a penalty conversion from Arellano.
Both defenses buckled down in the third with goals hard to
come by. Johnston scored the only goal
of the chukker on a shot from the field.
The first half ended in a 6-6 tie.
Caset’s seventh goal of the game came on a 60-yard penalty
conversion, 7-6, followed by a goal from the field from Arellano, 7-7. Roberto Zedda scored on a well-coordinated
Valiente attack that put them in the lead, 8-7, at the end of the fourth
period.
The Valiente defense stood strong in the fifth, holding
Coca-Cola scoreless while padding their lead with a pair of penalty goals from
Caset. With ne chukker left in
regulation play, Valiente held a 10-7, three goal advantage.
Santi Torres extended the Valiente lead to four goals, 11-7
with his first goal of the game in the sixth chukker, but Arellano rallied the
Coca-Cola offense with consecutive penalty goals that cut the lead to
11-9. Hall made a desperate run of
nearly 280 yards down the field that cut the Valiente lead to a single goal,
11-10, but the game clock betrayed them as they fell to Valiente by a single
goal, 11-10.
Caset scored five of his game-high nine goals on penalty
shots. Teammates Torres and Zedda added
single goals in the win. Arellano set
the pace for Coca-Cola with five goals (four on penalty conversions). Johnston scored three times and Hall added
two goals in the loss.
The victory will pit Valiente against Tonkawa on Sunday, January
26th for the 2014 Joe Barry Memorial Cup title.