C. V. Whitney Cup game continue

Alegria,
Lechuza and Coca-Cola win opening C. V. Whitney Cup games

By
Alex Webbe

Friday saw three more games take place at the
International Polo Club in Wellington in the 26-goal C. V. Whitney Cup with
Alegria pummeling Piaget 14-6 in the morning contest while Lechuza Caracas
needed an overtime goal to defeat Orchard Hill 10-9.  In the final C. V. Whitney match of the day,
Coca-Cola scored an 11-7 win over Audi.

Julian Mannix took the field for the first time this
season at the International Polo Club with his 26-goal Alegria team (Julian
Mannix, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Facundo Obregon) and gave up one
goal by handicap to the 25-goal Piaget entry (Melissa Ganzi, Sapo Caset, Miguel
Astrada and Juan Bollini).

Melissa Ganzi scored the first goal of the game on a
pin-point pass from 10-goaler Sapo Caset from the field.  Caset showed great form as he added a first
chukker goal of his own, but three goals from Mannix were enough to draw
Alegria even with Piaget at 3-3 after the opening period of play.

Mannix scored his third consecutive goal and fourth of
the game to open the second chukker, giving Alegria its first lead of the game,
4-3.   Facundo Obregon and Caset
exchanged penalty goals followed by a goal from Alegria’s Hilario Ulloa.  Two chukkers into the game, Alegria had built
a two goal lead, 6-4.

Third chukker goals from the field from Ulloa and Obregon
had Alegria on top, 8-4, but a late foul allowed Caset to convert a 60-yard
penalty shot, cutting the Alegria lead to three goals, 8-5 at the end of the
first half.

Both defenses tightened in the fourth chukker, with
Alegria shutting down a Piaget offense that struggled to get out of their own
half of the field.  Ulloa scored the only
goal of the period, extending the Alegria lead to four goals, 9-5.

The fifth period found Piaget unable to find an answer to
Alegria’s defense as they were blanked for a second consecutive chukker.  Mariano Aguerre scored his first goal of the
game and Obregon converted another penalty shot.   Alegria rode off the field on top of an 11-5
score with one chukker left to play.

Alegria rang up three straight goals in the final chukker
of play, with Aguerre adding his second of the day and Ulloa scoring
back-to-back goals to take a commanding 14-5 advantage.  Melissa Ganzi scored Piaget’s final goal of
the match, but it was Alegria who celebrated the 14-6 victory.

Ulloa led the pack by scoring five times for
Alegria.  Mannix added four goals to the
mix with Obregon registering three goals and Aguerre accounting for a pair of
goals in the win.  Caset scored two of
his three goals for Piaget on penalty shots. 
Ganzi added two goals from the field and the team received one goal by
handicap.

LECHUZA
CARACAS 10, ORCHARD HILL 9 OT

A realigned Lechuza Caracas team (Victor Vargas, Francisco
Elizalde, Polito Pieres and Juan Martin Nero) got all they could handle in
Friday’s noon contest with an invigorated Orchard Hill lineup (Steve Van Andel,
Rodrigo Andrade, Pablo MacDonough and Matias MacDonough) before scoring the
winning goal in overtime for the 10-9 win.

Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade got Orchard Hill on
the scoreboard first with a pair of goals from the field to account for all of
the first chukker scoring.  After seven
minutes of play Orchard Hill owned a 2-0 lead.

Lechuza’s new 7-goaler, Francisco Elizalde opened the
second with a goal from the field followed by a penalty conversion from
10-goaler Juan Martin Nero for a 2-2 tie. 
A closing goal from 10-goaler Pablo Macdonough had Orchard Hill holding
a narrow lead, 3-2.

Third period action saw Lechuza’s Polito Pieres score his
first goal of the day to knot it up at 3-3. 
Steve Van Andel and Andrade scored consecutive goals to put Orchard Hill
ahead 5-3.  Elizalde and Pieres closed
out the chukker with a gal from the field and a penalty goal,
respectively.  At the end of the first
half it was all even at 5-5.

Lechuza took control of the game in the fourth chukker,
picking up a 60-yard penalty conversion from Pieres and Elizalde’s third goal
of the game.  Orchard Hill was unable to
produce any effective offense and fell behind, 7-5.

Fifth chukker action was limited to a single goal from
Pablo MacDonough with Lechuza getting shutout for the first time since the
opening chukker.  Lechuza continued to
lead, but the lead was shaved to a single goal, 7-6.

All holds were barred in the final chukker of the match
with Pablo MacDonough tying it up with the opening goal of the sixth, 7-7.  Back-to-back goals from Elizalde stretched
the Lechuza lead to two goals, 9-7, with time running out.  Pablo MacDonough scored from the field and
his brother, Matias MacDonough, converted a 60-yard penalty shot in the final
seconds of the chukker for a 9-9 deadlock and sudden death overtime.

After a brief recess both teams returned to the
field.  Initial movement took the ball
into the Orchard Hill end of the field where Elizalde scored the winning goal
with his sixth score of the day.

Elizalde led all scoring with six goals on the day,
including the winner in overtime.  Pieres
scored three times, twice on penalty shots and Nero added a gal for the
win.  Pablo MacDonough and Andrade scored
three goals each.  Matias Macdonough
scored twice and Van Andel added a goal in the loss.

COCA-COLA
ALL OVER AUDI IN 11-7 WIN

A determined Coca-Cola team scored the first three
chukkers of the game in the opening chukker for an early 3-0 lead as 7-goaler
Sugar Erskine accounted for two of the goals and team captain Gillian Johnston
added a goal in the early goings.

Audi got back into the game in the second with Audi’s
Nico Pieres and Coca-Cola 9-goaler Julio Arellano exchanging penalty
goals.  Nico Pieres ended the scoring in
the chukker with an 80-yard scoring shot through the Coca-Cola goalposts.  After two periods of play Coca-Cola guarded a
4-2 advantage.

Gonzalito Pieres opened the third chukker with a penalty
goal.  Sebastian Merlos responded with a
goal for Coca-Cola and Nico Pieres was credited with the final goal of the
chukker with Coca-Cola ahead, 5-4 at halftime.

Coca-Cola’s defense did its job in the fourth period,
blanking Audi and adding goals from Erskine and Johnston.  With just two chukkers to play Coca-Cola had
expanded its lead to three goals, 7-4.

Arellano scored the opening goal of the fifth chukker,
but was countered by a pair of goals from Nico Pieres.  Ganzi was struck in the hand on a penalty
shot from Merlos and had to be replaced by Manual Villa mil for the sixth
chukker.  Coca-Cola continued to lead,
but Audi was now within two goals of Coca-Cola, 8-6.

Jeff Hall scored Audi’s only goal of the final chukker
with Coca-Cola supplying a pair of goals from Merlos and a single goal from
Arellano for the 11-7 win.

Arellano, Erskine and Merlos scored three goals apiece in
the win.  Johnston scored twice for the
victory.  Nico Pieres scored a team high
five goals for Audi.  Gonzalito Pieres
and Hall scored single goals in a losing effort.

The C. V. Whitney Cup semifinals are slated to be played
on Wednesday, February 27 with Lechuza meeting Coca-Cola at 3pm while Alegria
will play the winner of Sunday’s noon contest between ERG and Zacara in the 1pm
semifinal.