Crab Orchard and Audi in Open Finals
By Alex Webbe
Crab Orchard rode onto the field in the day’s first semifinal of the 2010 US Open Championship as the favorite, but it was Valiente who took a 4-3 halftime lead in polo action at the International Polo Club in Wellington Thursday afternoon.
Crab Orchard, led by “the great oneâ€, Argentine 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso was looking to wrap this game up early, but Valiente wasn’t having any of it.
Julio Arellano converted a penalty shot for the only goal of the opening chukker as both teams practiced shutout defense. Cambiaso made it 2-0 on his second chukker goal before Valiente answered with a goal from the field from Magoo Laprida and a penalty goal from Nacho Astrada, tying the score at 2-2.
Nacho Astrada added a goal from the field and another from the penalty line while Crab Orchard was held to a single penalty conversion from Cambiaso, giving Valiente a narrow 4-3 halftime advantage.
The Valiente lead was short-lived as Cambiaso took control of the opening play of the fourth chukker to score his third goal of the game. Arellano added a pair of goals while the entire Crab Orchard played heads up defense, shutting out Valiente, moving ahead 6-4.
Nacho Astrada got Valiente back into it in the fifth with a penalty conversion, cutting the Crab Orchard lead to a single goal when Cambiaso displayed the brilliance that has him revered as the top player in the game today. Cambiaso took a pass from teammate Hilario Ulloa over 250 yards down the field to put Crab Orchard up, 7-5.
A missed penalty shot from Nacho Astrada took the winds out of the Valiente sails late in the chukker, with Ulloa scoring his first goal of the game to move Crab Orchard in front by three goals, 8-5, as the period ended.
Valiente rallied in the early minutes of the sixth, getting a goal from the field from Miguel Astrada and another penalty goal from brother Nacho Astrada that cut the Crab Orchard lead to a single goal, but that would be as close as they would come.
Arellano converted a penalty goal and added another goal from the field to close out the scoring and give Crab Orchard the 10-7 win and a berth in Sunday’s US Open finals.
AUDI 7, LECHUZA CARACAS 6
In a match that began as a blowout by Audi, Victor Vargas’ Lechuza Caracas team stormed back in the final chukker to make it a closer game than most expected, falling to the 2009 defending US Open Champion by the score of 7-6.
First chukker goals by Gonzalito Pieres, Marc Ganzi and Facundo Pieres had Audi up 3-0 at the end of the first chukker as the Audi defense performed admirably against a veteran Lechuza lineup.
Facundo Pieres managed a single penalty goal in the second chukker and team captain Ganzi scored the only goal of the third chukker to give Audi a commanding 5-0 halftime lead as Lechuza struggled to find any offense at all.
Audi rode off the field with a five goal advantage, and looked to make little work of the Lechuza team in the final three chukkers of play.
Lechuza finally found its punch in the fourth chukker, combining three penalty goals from Sapo Caset with an admirable defense that kept Audi off the boards for the first time all day. Audi continued to lead, but the margin was cut to a pair of goals, 5-3.
Audi tightened up the screws on defense again in the fifth period, pitching shutout ball while getting another penalty goal from Facundo Pieres to take a 6-3 lead into the final chukker of play.
Facundo Pieres scored his fourth penalty goal of the game to open the action in the final chukker before Lechuza mad a mad rally to get back into the game.
Ten-goaler Juan Martin Nero scored his first goal of the game in the final chukker followed by a pair of goals from team captain Victor Vargas, but the writing was already on the wall.
The matchup that everyone was looking forward to, Crab Orchard vs. Audi, was set. Audi took the 7-6 game and will move ahead to meet Crab orchard in Sunday’s finals of the 2010 US Open Championship at the International Polo Club.
ORCHARD HILL 13, PIAGET 6
In earlier 26-goal action, Orchard Hill scored a 13-6 win over Piaget in the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Cup as 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough scored eight goals in the effort.
Piaget kept it close in the first half, receiving one goal by handicap and adding a goal by Juan Bollini and a pair by Nic Roldan to trail 6-4 at the end of the first half, but from then on it was all Orchard Hill.
Four more second half goals from Macdonough were complimented by three goals from Lucas Craido as Orchard Hill cruised to an easy 13-6 win.
Orchard Hill will play Pony Express in the finals of the cup at 3pm on Saturday.