Polito Pieres scored twice for the win
the
By Alex Webbe
The 2014 Outback
40-Goal Challenge, featuring some of the best polo players in the world, took
place on Saturday afternoon at the International Polo Club in support of the
Polo Players Support Group. The annual
event is the major fund-raiser for the PPSG that has offered financial
assistance to 48 players and grooms to the tune of nearly $1.5 million over the
course of the last dozen years.
This year
Polo Pieres scored two 2-point goals in the last 1:12 of the game to salvage an
11-10 win for his EFG Bank team (Adolfo Cambiaso, Polito Pieres, Pablo MacDonough
and Miguel Novillo Astrada) at the expense of an Equus & Co. team (Facundo
Pieres, Sapo Caset, Gonzalo Pieres and Juan Martin Nero) that led for most of
the game.
Miguel
Astrada scored the opening goal of the game to give EFG Bank the early lead,
1-0, but Gonzalito Pieres put Equus & Co. on top, 2-1 with a two-point shot
(in this exhibition match a two-point line has been marked on the field that is
70-yards from the goal. Any shot from
behind that line counts as two points if it goes through the goalposts). Juan Martin Nero extended the Equus & Co.
lead with his first goal of the game, 3-1.
Pablo MacDonough cut into the lead with a goal from the field with just
46 seconds left in the period, 3-2.
Facundo
Pieres drilled a 90-yard shot through the goalposts early in the second chukker
that added another two points to the Equus & Co. total, 5-2. Goals from Polito Pieres and Astrada cut the Equus
& Co. down to a single goal, 5-4, with Sapo Caset adding another goal to
the total for a 6-4 advantage after two periods of play.
Astrada
changed the dynamics of the game with a two-point goal at the 6:08 mark of the
third chukker. Nero’s goal from the field
just a minute later would be the final goal of a defensively-oriented
period. Equus & Co. rode off the
field at the end of the first half on the winning end of a 7-6 score.
Goals from
Caset, Nero and Facundo Pieres stretched the Equus & Co. lead to four
goals, 10-6, with just 2:39 left in the period.
Polito Pieres managed to rack up a single goal at the two minute
mark. Equus & Co.
rode off the
field with a 10-7 edge on a talented EFG Bank lineup.
All four
players showed their defensive prowess in the fifth. Caset and Polito Pieres continued to attempt
2-point shots at goal, but the chukker ended up scoreless, with EFG Bank still
trailing by three goals, 10-7. To all in
attendance it looked to be an Equus & Co. victory, but there was no let up
to the EFG Bank team. Held scoreless for
the first five minutes of the game, Polito Pieres managed to convert a pair of two
pointers into the winning margin in an 11-10 EFG Bank win.
EFG Bank’s Polito
Pieres set the pace for the game as he picked up six points on a pair of goals
and two two-pointers. Astrada scored
two goals from the field and a two-pointers for four points, and Nero added a
single goal in the opening chukker. Equus & Co. got three goals from Nero and
Facundo Pieres. Teammates Gonzalito
Pieres and Caset each scored twice in the loss.
GRAND CHAMPIONS 2, SANTA CLARA 0.
Prior to the
“big boys†taking the field, a two chukker match was played that featured a
number of the sons, daughters, nephews and nieces of today’s polo greats.
Adolfito
Cambiaso, Jr., scored the first goal of the game to put his Grand Champion’s
team (Adolfito Pieres, Mia Cambiaso, Lucas Lalor, Jr. and Matias MacDonough)
fell behind as Cambiaso himself watched from the sidelines (groin injury).
Grand
Champions scored two goals on the day while holding Equus & Co. scoreless
for the final 2-0 win.