ERG and Farmers & Merchants Bankscore opening wins in 2014 USPA Nespresso America Cup
By Alex Webbe
ERG (Scott Wood, Remy Muller, Agustin Merlos and Sebastian Merlos) and Farmers & Merchants Bank (Dan Walker, Inaki Laprida, Lucas Criado and Henry Walker) registered opening wins over Lucchese (Liam Lott, Jeff Hall, Sapo Caset andTommy Collingwood) and Film Finance (Leigh Breechen, Joseph Stuart, Santiago Chavanne and Paco de Narvaez), respectively, in the 2014 USPA Nespresso America Cup Friday afternoon at the Santa Barbara Polo Club.
ERG opened the day against Lucchese in a defensively oriented first chukker. Agustin Merlos scored the only goal of the chukker for an opening 1-0 lead.
Lucchese took advantage of ERG fouls in the second,with Sapo Caset converting two 40-yard penalty shots and a 60-yard shot. Agustin Merlos answered back with a singlegoal from the field. After two chukkersof play, Lucchese had taken the lead, 3-2.
Agustin Merlos opened the third period with apenalty goal for ERG to tie it at 3-3. Sebastian Merlos added a goal from the field, 4-3. Caset leveled the score again with a 40-yard penaltyshot, 4-4. Agustin Merlos added two moregoals from the field and Caset added another penalty goal to the Lucchesetotal. At the end of the first half, ERGwas on top, 6-5.
A regrouped Lucchese foursome returned to the fieldin the fourth and scored four consecutive goals whle holding the ERG team scoreless. Caset scored one goal fromthe field and another on a penalty conversion. Team mate Jeff Hall scored twice from the field. After four chukkers, Lucchese had crept intothe lead, 9-6.
Fouls tripped up the Lucchese defense in the fifth,sending Agustin Merlos to the penalty line twice where he converted both shotsto cut the Lucchese lead to a single goals, 9-8. Hall scored the final goal of the chukker, keepingLucchese in front by two goals, 10-8.
The fifth chukker belonged to Erg as they outscoredLucchese 5-1 for a 13-11 come-from-behind win.
“It was a choppy game,†said Jeff Hall after thegame. “It’s hard to get a rhythm going when there are constant penalties being called. We had our chances and are comfortable that we’ll come back on Sunday.â€
FARMERS& MERCHANTS BANK 12, FILM FINANCE 10
I n the second match of the day Farmers & Merchants Bank took advantage of a one goal handicap from the 20-gaol Film Finance team to run up a 4-2 lead in the opening chukker of their America Cup game. Santiago Chavanne scored twice for Film Finance (0nce on a 40-yard penalty conversion) but Farmers & Merchants Bankgot single goals from Lucas Criado, Henry Walker and Inaki Laprida for the 4-2 advantage (they had one goal by handicap to start the game).
Both defenses slowed it down in the second periodwith scoring coming at a premium. Pacode Narvaez scored the only goal of the chukker, but Farmers & Merchants Bank continued to lead, 4-3.
Farmers & Merchants Bank extended their lead tothree goals in the third. Two goals from Criado and a goal from Dan Walker ended the first half with Film Finance trailing, 7-4. Film Finance’s only goal came from the field from de Narvaez.
Criado’s fourth goal of the game had Farmers & Merchants Bank on top, 8-4. Film Finance managed to answer with a goal from de Narvaez, making up no ground and continuing to trail, by three goals, 8-5.
Two early goals by Dan Walker had Farmers & Merchants Bank enjoying a 10-5 edge, but the lead was short-lived. De Narvaez responded with the first goal from Film Finance followed by two more from Chavanne (one on a penaltyconversion). Film Finance had shaved onegoal off of the lead and closed the game to two goals, 10-8.
De Narvaez scored the first goal of the final chukker as he cut the Farmers & Merchants Bank lead to a single goal, 10-9, but that would be as close as they would get. Consecutive goals from Laprida and Dan Walker had Farmers & Merchants Bank in the lead by three goals, 12-9, with time running out. A final penalty goal from de Narvaez made it 12-10, and that was where it ended.
Play will continue in the 2014 USPA Nespresso America Cup on Sunday when Lucchese faces Film Finance. Farmers & Merchants Bank will take on ERG.