Lechuza Caracas stays alive in US Open with 11-9 win
ByAlex Webbe
Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas,Nico Pieres, Juan Martin Nero and Nico Espain) led through the first fourchukkers of the game against Crab Orchard (Peke Gonzalez, Magoo Laprida, FacundoPieres and Paco de Narvaez) and held off a fifth chukker rally to score theirfirst win of the 2014 Maserati US Open Championship Friday afternoon in an 11-9win.
Lechuza Caracas took earlycontrol of the game with Nico Pieres converting a 60-yard penalty shot in the openingminute of the first chukker for the 1-0 lead. With three minutes left in the period Pieres scored his second on adriving 90-yard shot from the field with Facundo Pieres defending. At the end of the opening chukker LechuzaCaracas rode off the field with the 2-0 advantage.
Facundo Pieres scored a couple ofgoals in less than a minute in the second for a 2-2 tie. Juan Martin Nero responded with two goals ofhis own, 4-2. Facundo Pieres scored thefinal goal of the chukker to cut the Lechuza Caracas lead to a single goal,4-3.
Long passes and long runscharacterized the third period with Paco de Narvaez scoring twice in the firstminute of play, giving Crab orchard their first lead of the game, 5-4. Nico Pieres closed out the first half withthree consecutive goals (two on penalty shots) to give Lechuza Caracas a twogoal, 7-5 advantage at the end of the first half.
A pressing Crab orchard attack inthe fourth chukker saw Lechuza Caracas commit a couple of fouls that sentFacundo Pieres to the penalty line where he converted a pair of shots forgoals, 7-7. Nero took the lead back for LechuzaCaracas, scoring with just 42 seconds on the clock. Lechuza Caracas continued to lead, 8-7.
The Crab orchard defense steppedit up in the fifth, shutting out the Lechuza Caracas attack while adding singlegoals from 14-yer-old Peke Gonzalez and Facundo Pieres. Gonzalez tied it, 7-7, and Facundo Pieresgave the lead back to Crab Orchard with his sixth goal of the game, 8-7.
A desperate Lechuza Caracasfoursome took control of the game in the sixth. Nero tied it at 9-9 two minutes into the final chukker. He followed it up with another goal from the fieldat the 2:50 mark that gave the lead back to Lechuza Caracas, 10-9. With Crab Orchard pressing to score the tyinggoal, Nico Pieres sealed the game with his sixth goal of the match at 1:17, forthe 11-9 victory.
Nico Pieres scored six times forLechuza Caracas (three on penalty shots). Nero added five goals for the win. Facundo Pieres scored four of his team-high six goals from the field. De Narvaez added two goals and Peke Gonzalezadded a goal in a losing effort.
Maserati US Open play continueson Saturday with a 4pm contest between Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres,Sapo Caset and Adolfo Cambiaso) and Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, SantiagoChavanne, Pablo MacDonough and Matias MacDonough).