Maserati US Open
quarterfinals set
By Alex Webbe
The final round of preliminary play in the 2014 Maserati US
Open Championship was played on Thursday afternoon at the International Polo
Club as Alegria (Julian Mannix, Clemente Zavaleta, Mariano Aguerre and Hilario
Ulloa) needed an overtime period to assist their late rally and register a
13-12 win against Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sebastian Merlos, Julio Arellano
and Facundo Obregon).
The victory gave Alegria a perfect 3-0 record and boosted
them into the tournament semifinals.
In the second match of the day previously winless Flight
Options (Melissa Ganzi, Eduardo Astrada, Miguel Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) scored
an exciting 10-9 win over Audi (Marc Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade
and Gonzalo Del Tour), tying Audi and Coca-Cola with a 1-2 record and forcing a
shootout to decide which two teams would advance to Sunday’s quarterfinals.
Following the shootout, both Audi and Coca-Cola advanced sending
Audi against Crab Orchard (Peke Gonzalez, Magoo Laprida, Facundo Pieres and Paco
de Narvaez) and Coca-Cola against Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Nico Pieres,
Juan Martin Nero and Nico Espain).
In the afternoon opener, Alegria showed power early, getting
consecutive goals from Hilario Ulloa and Mariano Aguerre (40-yard penalty
conversion), 2-0. Sebastian Merlos got
Coca-Cola on the scoreboard with a goal from the field, 2-1, with Aguerre
scoring his second goal of the chukker with just eight seconds on the clock,
3-1.
Coca-Cola team captain Gillian Johnston opened the second
chukker with a goal, 3-2, but Aguerre fired back two minutes later with his
third goal of the game, 4-2. Merlos
closed out the second period with consecutive goals that tied it up at 4-4.
Merlos continued to play like the 10-goaler that he once
was, scoring the opening two goals of the third in just over a minute,
6-4. Alegria ‘s Julian Mannix cut the
Coca-Cola lead to a single goal, 6-5, at the end of the first half with his
first score of the day.
All six goals scored in the fourth chukker came on penalty
shots, with Coca-Cola scoring four times ( two from Merlos and two from Merlos)
and Alegria converting successfully only twice (two 60-yarders from Ulloa). With two chukkers left to play in regulation
time, Coca-Cola owned a 10-7 advantage.
Ulloa scored on two consecutive penalty shots to open the
fifth chukker, 10-9. Facundo Obregon
responded with a penalty goal for Coca-Cola, 11-9. Arellano made it 12-9 with a goal from the field. Ulloa scored the final goal of the chukker on
a 30-yard penalty sot to bring Alegria to with two goals of the lead, 12-10.
An early foul by Coca-Cola sent Ulloa to the penalty line
where he converted the shot for an Alegria goal, 12-11 just seconds into the
sixth period. The Coca-Cola offense
struggled in vain as a resolute Alegria defense kept them from scoring. The final goal of the chukker was scored by
team captain Julian Mannix, tying the score at 12-12 and forcing a sudden-death
overtime chukker.
After a brief intermission both teams returned to the field with
Alegria going on the attack from the onset.
Three early shots at goal went wide for Alegria, but they seemed to have
Coca-Cola back on their heels. The pace
continued to quicken, with neither team able to score. With 1:53 left in overtime, Coca-Cola fouled
near their own goal line and Ulloa converted for the win, 13-11.
Ulloa scored seven of his game-high eight goals on penalty
shots. Aguerre scored three times and
Mannix added a pair of goals for the win.
Merlos led the Coca-Cola attack with seven goals. Arellano added three goals and Obregon and
Johnston scored single goals in a losing effort.
FLIGHT OPTIONS 10,
AUDI 9
The final match of the day was a physical contest with Flight
Options and Audi on the field.
Goals were scarce in the opening minutes of play, with physical
checks jarring horse and rider. Audi
scored first with Gonzalo Del Tour stealing the ball in front of the flight
Options goalposts and scoring with just 2:14 left in the first chukker. With less than a minute on the clock, Gonzalito
Pieres made it 2-0 as he converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal for the
final score of the chukker.
Pieres made it 3-0 n another penalty conversion at the 3:05
mark of the second when a bone-rattling ride-off sent Flight Options 9-goaler
Miguel Astrada from the field with an injury.
American 8-goaler Nic Roldan was called in to take his place, and play
continued. Pieres added another goal for
Audi on a shot from the field with less than a minute left in the period. Audi shutout the Flight Options attack for
two consecutive chukkers and led, 4-0.
Pieres scored his fourth goal of the game at 5:28 of the
third period and Audi was on top of a 5-0 score. Alejandro Astrada finally got his team on the
scoreboard with a pair of penalty conversions.
The first half ended with Audi in control of a 5-2 game.
Three consecutive goals from Alejandro Astrada (two on
penalty conversions) had it all even at 5-5 at the 4:07 mark of the fourth
chukker. Del Tour rallied for Audi,
scoring twice in the final three minutes of the chukker to give Audi a 7-5 lead
with two chukkers left in regulation time.
The first goal of the fifth chukker didn’t come until the
2:28 mark with Pieres converting a short penalty shot to give Audi an 8-5
edge. Alejandro Astrada managed to score
form the field with 1:33 left in the period.
Audi continued to lead, 8-6.
Nic Roldan opened the sixth chukker with a goal from the
field to cut the Audi lead to a single goal, 8-7. Pieres responded with a goal from the field at
5:11 to give Audi a two goal advantage, 9-7.
Roldan sent a booming pass down the field to a waiting Eduardo Astrada
who scored to cut the lead to a single goal, 9-8.Alejandro Astrada scored on a
60-yard penalty shot for the final goal in regulation time, 9-9, and both teams
repaired to the sidelines to prepare for the sudden-death overtime period.
Less than two minutes into the overtime Alejandro Astrada
took off on a run and scored, 10-9, for the win.
Alejandro Astrada led the Flight Options attack with eight
goals (five on penalty shots). Eduardo
Astrada and Roldan added single goals in the win. Pieres scored three goals from the field and
three on penalty shots for a team high of six goals. Del Tour added the other
three goals as Audi lost, 10-9.
The Flight Options win resulted in a three-way-tie between
Audi, Coca-Cola and flight Options, forcing a shootout to determine what two
teams would advance to the quarterfinals and which team would go home. Audi won and Coca-Cola finished second.
Maserati US Open competition continues on Sunday with Audi
facing Crab Orchard and Coca-Cola going against Lechuza Caracas.