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A C T I O N
Opposite:
MVP Matias Torres Zavaleta,
far right, at the CV Whitney final.
This page:
Adolfo Cambiaso between
Gillian Johnston on the left and Julio
Arellano on the right in the Gold Cup
Pieres and Steve Van Andel) and Coca-Cola
in the USPA Gold Cup, with Valiente
continuing to dominate. Coca-Cola upset
Orchard Hill with an extra-time goal, 11–10,
before falling to the powerful Valiente
line-up, 9–6, in the final.
Two more teams materialised for the
US Open, with Melissa Ganzi's Flexjet team
(Melissa Ganzi, Rodrigo Andrade, Gonzalito
Pieres and Nico Pieres) and Teo Calle
debuting with his Travieso quartet (Teo
Calle, Alfredo Capella, Sebastian Merlos
and Mariano Gonzalez). Audi realigned
with Nic Roldan, Alejandro Novillo Astrada
and Magoo Laprida joining Marc Ganzi.
A two-bracket US Open tournament
allowed for winners to earn byes to the
semi-finals and the four remaining teams
facing off in ‘mini quarter-finals’. In effect,
this means that after nine games, all six
teams are still in contention for the trophy.
Valiente opened the competition against
Orchard Hill, in a game many thought would
be the final – and they weren’t disappointed,
with Valiente winning 12–11 in extra time,
on a penalty goal from Cavanagh.
After nine games, the field was finally
pared down to just four teams, with Orchard
Hill dispatching a pesky Audi team that were
in search of their first win of the tournament
while Travieso shocked Coca-Cola, 12–10.
Orchard Hill dashed Flexjet’s hopes in
the semi-finals with a 10–9 win in extra time
after trailing for much of the game. Valiente
had little trouble with Travieso in a 16–6
pummelling, and the final was set.
The highly touted horsepower of the
Valiente stables was on full display as the
US Open final got underway, but the Orchard
Hill string was up to the challenge. Polito
Pieres's aggressive forward play and the
masterful stick work of Facundo Pieres gave
Orchard Hill the upper hand early on and had
them on top of an 11–8 score in the opening
minutes of the fifth. A Valiente rally tied the
game at 11–11 in the sixth before winning it
on a penalty goal in extra time.
Polito Pieres played his best game of the
season both offensively and defensively.
Facundo Pieres was brilliant, but Valiente
was good as ever and Cambiaso had
managed to cobble together a combination
that not only won the 2017 US Open but
swept all three 26-goal tournaments to
become only the second team in history to
capture the American Triple Crown.
