Coca-Cola wins in OT; Villa Del Lago and Lucchese register
Victories
By
Alex Webbe
The first round of play in the 2012 Ylvisaker Cup was
completed Saturday afternoon at the International Polo club in Wellington with
Coca-Cola, Villa del Lago and Lucchese ringing up wins in the 20-goal
competition.
The day opened with Heathcote taking on Coca-Cola, the
winner of the season’s two opening tournaments, the Herbie Pennell Cup and the
Joe Barry Memorial Cup, and making an early impression by running out to an 8-4
halftime lead before falling 12-11 in sudden-death overtime.
Tommy Biddle gave Heathcote the early led on a 60-yard
penalty conversion. A goal from teammate
Nick Manifold had Coca-Cola trailing 3-0 before they got their attack
organized. Mason Wroe scored Coke’s
first goal of the game with Sugar Erskine tallying the tying goal to end the
first chukker, 2-2.
The Heathcote defense smothered Coca-Cola in the second
while Biddle put on an offensive show.
After converting another 60-yard penalty shot, the 6-goaler buried a
nearside backhand shot from over 85 yards out.
He followed up with a third goal in the chukker for a 5-3 lead. Coca-Cola was shut out.
Lucas Monteverde put Heathcote up 6-2 with the opening
goal of the third period. Biddle
scorched another ball through the goal posts on a 200 yard run before Coke woke
up. Julio Arellano scored Coca-Cola’s
first goal since the first chukker on a penalty shot and then followed it up
with a goal from the field to cut the Heathcote lead to three goals, 7-4. Monteverde closed out the chukker with his
second goal of the game with Heathcote leading by four goals, 8-4.
Arellano opened the second half with a goal from the
field. Biddle converted a penalty shot
from 40-yards out, 9-5. Arellano
converted a penalty shot as the chukker ended with Coca-Cola behind, 9-6.
The Coca-Cola offense was transformed in the fifth period
with Arellano converting a penalty goal and Erskine adding two more goals to
lock it up at 9-9 with one chukker left to play. For the first time all day Heathcote was kept
off the scoreboard.
Arellano converted a 60-yard penalty shot to open the scoring
in the sixth to give Coca-Cola its first lead of the game, 10-9, but Heathcote’s
Monteverde responded with a tying penalty goal of his own. Arellano
fired back with another go-ahead goal as he rode through two Heathcote players
on an impressive scoring effort, 11-10.
With time running out, Monteverde converted a Safety (60-yard penalty
shot) to force the game into sudden-death overtime.
After a brief recess to change mounts, both teams
returned to the field for the throw-in which Erskine took immediate possession
of, and with just 18 seconds off of the clock, scored the winning goal.
Arellano scored seven times for Coca-Cola (1-0). Erskine added four goals and Wroe accounted
for a score in the win.
Biddle led the Heathcote (0-1) attack with six
goals. Monteverde added four goals and
Manifold registered a goal.
VILLA
DEL LAGO 9, VALIENTE I 7
Jared Zenni’s return to the Villa Del Lago team was a successful
one as the team jumped out to a 6-2 halftime lead before scoring a 9-7 win over
a talented Valiente II team in the second Ylvisaker Cup match of the day.
After a scoreless opening three minutes of play,
Argentine 9-goaler Nacho Astrada scored on a penalty shot to give Valiente II an
early 1-0 lead, but Villa del Lago charged back into action, scoring three
straight goals to end the chukker.
Augustin Obregon scored on a difficult nearside neck shot followed by a
pair of goals from Magoo Laprida (one on a penalty shot and one from the
field). The period ended with Villa del
Lago leading by two goals, 3-1.
Villa del Lago’s Pelon Escapite and Valiente II’s Julio Gracida
exchanged penalty goals for the only scoring of the second chukker as both
defenses stiffened. Villa del Lago
continued to lead by two goals, 4-2.
Escapite scored from the field in the third followed by a
penalty goal from Laprida. Valiente II
was held scoreless and Villa del Lago found themselves holding a 6-2 halftime
advantage.
Valiente II rallied in the fourth, scoring three
unanswered goals to cut the lead to a single goal, 6-5. Astrada scored on two well-executed
backhanders while team captain Bob Jornayvaz carried the ball through the goal
for the final goal of the chukker.
The Valiente II domination continued into the fifth
period as Astrada tied it with an opening goal and then scored the go-ahead on
a 100 yard run. With one chukker left to
play in regulation time, Valiente II held a narrow 7-6 edge over Villa del Lago.
Zenni scored on a cut shot to tie it up in the sixth,
7-7, and Escapite added his third goal of the game for an 8-7 lead. Escapite scored an insurance goal on a
60-yard penalty conversion and Villa del Lago celebrated the 9-7 victory.
Escapite led the Villa del Lago attack with four
goals. Laprida added three goals and
Obregon and Zenni added single goals in the win.
Astrada registered five goals for Valiente II. Teammates Jornayvaz and Gracida scored single
goals.
LUCCHESE
13, ZACARA 5
Lucchese and Zacara closed out the day with a choppy
competition that had Pelon Stirling scoring the only goal of the opening
chukker of play.
Stirling added two more unanswered goals in the second
period, scoring once from the field and converting a penalty shot for a goal
for a 3-0 lead, and no sign of life from the Zacara offense.
Stirling converted a 60-yard penalty shot in the third
and added a goal from the field for a 5-0 advantage before Zacara managed to
get on the scoreboard. Penalty
conversions from Marcos Llambias and Gonzalo Del Tour got Zacara on the
scoreboard, but it was Lucchese that left the field with a three goal, 5-3
lead.
Lucchese took control of the game in the second half,
putting three consecutive goals on the board before Zacara responded. Stirling added two more goals from the field
while teammate Cote Zegers added his first goal of the afternoon. Del Tour converted a 60-yard penalty shot to keep
his team from being shut out. Lucchese
had extended its lead to five goals, 8-5 after the fourth chukker.
Stirling added a penalty goal in the fifth and Santi
Torres registered his first goal of the game while a punchless Zacara offense
went scoreless for the third time.
Lucchese led 10-7 and showed no sign of letting up.
Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea scored his team’s first
goal from the field in the sixth chukker and Llambias added another, but there
was not enough offense to get back into the game. Two more goals from Torres and a goal from
Zegers ended the game as Lucchese claimed the 13-5 win.
Stirling led the field with eight goals. Torres scored three times and Zegers
accounted for two goals in the victory.
Del tour and Llambias scored two goals apiece for
Zacara. Lea added a goal in a losing
effort.