Valiente and Alegria
in 2014 Maserati US Open final
By Alex Webbe
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Adolfo
Cambiaso) looked strong riding into Wednesday’s semifinals, but when disaster
struck, the winner of the 2014 C. V. Whitney Cup and the USPA Piaget Gold Cup
looked vulnerable.
Valiente star 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso took an
exceptionally hard bump just three minutes and twenty-two seconds into the
first chukker that aggravated a previously injured groin muscle that sent him
to the ground writhing in pain. Play was
suspended as the medics attempted to alleviate the injury, and after nearly 15
minutes Cambiaso re-mounted play resumed with a Valiente penalty shot that Sapo
Caset converted for a 3-1 Valiente lead.
Play was halted again, however, and Cambiaso left the field. In a two player switch, Valiente team captain
Bob Jornayvaz joined Cambiaso on the sidelines and sent in Carlitos Gracida (3)
and Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade, and play resumed.
A disorganized Valiente battled through the balance of the
first chukker, giving up a goal in the last two minutes of the chukker that
brought Lechuza Caracas to within a goal of the lead, 3-2.
Pieres tied it up in the second, 3-3, with a goal from the
field at 5:08. A pair of 30-yard penalty
conversions from Caset put Valiente back in the lead, 5-3. A late Valiente foul, however, allowed
Lechuza Caracas to stay close as Pieres converted a short penalty shot with
just five seconds on the clock to make it 5-4, with Valiente still in the lead.
The reshuffled Valiente lineup began to gel in the
third. Caset converted on a well-placed
backhand pass from Andrade, 6-4, with Andrade adding another goal just a minute
later, 7-4. Pieres converted a 60-yard penalty
shot to close out the first half with Valiente on top of a 7-5 score.
Pieres and Caset traded penalty shots in the first two
minutes of the fourth chukker, with Valiente maintaining their two goal lead,
8-6. Carlitos Gracida (substituting for
Bob Jornayvaz) made it 9-6 with his first goal of the day, and Andrade ended
the period with a goal from the field to put Valiente ahead, 10-6.
Valiente 6-goaler Santi Torres caught fire in the fifth
chukker scoring three times from the field.
Pieres converted two more penalty shots for goals but Lechuza Caracas
fell behind by five goals, 13-8.
Pieres scored the first goal of the sixth chukker from the
field, 13-9, but Torres answered back with a goal of his own, 14-9. Two more penalty conversions from Pieres
brought Lechuza Caracas a bit closer, 14-11, with less than two minutes left to
play. Andrade slammed the door on
Lechuza Caracas with his third goal of the game at 1:08 to give Valiente the
15-11 win and a berth in the final of the 2014 Maserati US Open
Championship. Pieres was credited with a
game high nine goals (eight on penalty conversions). Nero scored twice. Five of Caset’s team high six goals came on
penalty shots. Torres added five goals;
Andrade was credited with three goals; and Gracida added a goal for the
victory.
ALEGRIA 9, CRAB
ORCHARD 8
Alegria (Julian Mannix, Clemente Zavaleta, Mariano Aguerre
and Hilario Ulloa) closed out the day with a 9-8 win over Crab Orchard (Facundo
Pieres, Magoo Laprida, Matias Magrini and Peke Gonzalez) in a real nail-biter
that bounced into the Maserati US Open final against Valiente-a re-match of
their face-off in the final of the USPA Piaget Gold Cup.
There was little offensive success in the opening minutes of
play in the day’s second semifinal game between Alegria and Crab Orchard, with
Hilario Ulloa scoring the opening goal of the day on a penalty conversion at
the 3:38 mark of the first chukker, 1-0.
Magoo Laprida evened the score at 1-1 less than a minute later on a goal
from the field. An Alegria foul cost
them a goal with just 28 seconds in the period as Crab Orchard took the early
lead, 2-1 on a 40-yard penalty shot.
Both defenses clamped down in the second period. A 60-yard penalty goal from Ulloa at 5:28
accounted for the only scoring, with the teams deadlocked at 2-2.
Two penalty conversions from Ulloa (a 30-yard shot and a
60-yard shot) had Alegria up by two, 4-2.
Facundo Pieres got Crab Orchard on the scoreboard with a 60-yard penalty
conversion with 47 seconds left in the first half. Alegria continued to lead, at the end of the
first half, 4-3.
Pieres scored a goal from the field two minutes into the
second half for a 4-4 tie. Ulloa put
Alegria back in the lead on another penalty goal, his fifth of the day for a
5-4 Alegria lead.
Ulloa stretched the Alegria lead to two goals with a 40-yard
penalty goal in the fifth.
Fourteen-year-old Peke Gonzalez blistered the ball through the Alegria
goalposts on a breakaway at 5:46, cutting the Alegria lead back to a single
goal, 6-5. Pieres tied it up at 6-6 a
minute later. Clemente Zavaleta scored
his first goal of the game at 2:27 for a 7-6 Alegria advantage. Pieres ended the chukker on a goal from the
field with just 53 seconds left in the chukker to level the score once again,
7-7.
Both defenses stepped it up in the sixth chukker. Ulloa finally broke through the Crab Orchard
defenders to put Alegria on top, 8-7 midway through the chukker. Pieres tied it up with his sixth goal of the
game at 2:38. Ulloa scored the final
goal of the game with less than a minute on the clock with time running out on
the 9-8 Alegria victory.
Ulloa led the Alegria attack with eight goals (six on
penalty conversions). Zavaleta added a
goal for the win. Pieres scored six
times for Crab Orchard (two on penalty shots).
Laprida and Gonzalez each added a goal in a losing effort.
The win boosts Alegria into the final of the 2014 Maserati
US Open on Sunday against Valiente, a rematch of their USPA Piaget Gold Cup
final, a final that was won by Valiente in a down-to-the-wire 11-10 victory.