ERG and Zacara remain undefeated; Valiente I and Alegria
also make the cut
By Alex Webbe
Three games took place in the 2012 USPA Piaget Gold Cup
Thursday afternoon at the International Polo Club in Wellington that will
decide half of the tournament’s playoff positions with ERG (3-0), Zacara (3-0),
Valiente I (2-1) and Alegria (1-2) finding berths in the Quarterfinals on
Sunday and Monday.
Following a 45 minute rain delay, Valiente I went to work
establishing a 7-4 halftime lead before soundly defeating Ernesto Gutiérrez’s
La Ensenada team from Buenos Aires, 16-8.
La Ensenada was spotted one goal by handicap from the
26-goal Valiente I team, with Miguel Astrada scoring the first goal from the
field on a 60-yard penalty conversion, 1-1.
Matias Magrini responded with a 40-yard penalty goal for La Ensenada before
surrendering two consecutive goals to Valiente I’s Polito Pieres to end the
chukker. Valiente I left the field with
an early 3-2 lead.
Juan Garcia Grossi broke through the Valiente I defenses
in the second period to score two goals to give La Ensenada a 4-3 edge. Valiente I fired back with Miguel Astrada scoring
one goal from the field and two on penalty shots. The chukker ended with Valiente I on top,
6-4.
Both defenses tightened in the third. Shots at goal went wide or were defended,
passes were intercepted. Miguel Astrada
managed to score the only goal of the chukker for a 7-4 halftime advantage.
Miguel Astrada opened the scoring in the second half with
a penalty goal. La Ensenada answered
with a goal from the field from Grossi, 8-5.
A goal from Pieres was followed by a scoring effort from Nacho Astrada,
and Valiente I rode off the field at the end of the fourth chukker ahead by
five goals, 10-5.
Two more goals from Pieres and a score from the field
from Miguel Astrada had the Valiente I lead expanding to six goals, 13-7. La Ensenada managed a pair of goals from
Magrini (one from the field and one on a 60-yard penalty shot).
Lucas James opened the final chukker with his first goal
of the day, but the Valiente I offense continued to roll. Pieres converted a 60-yard penalty shot for a
goal and Miguel Astrada added a pair of goals (one from the field and one on a
penalty shot) for the 16-8 victory.
Miguel Astrada set the pace for Valiente I with nine
goals (five on penalty shots). Pieres
scored six times and Nacho Astrada added a goal in the win. Santiago Toccalino replaced Nacho Astrada (injured
riding muscle) in the final chukker.
Magrini and Grossi scored three goals apiece for La
Ensenada (0-3). James added a goal and
the team received one goal by handicap.
ERG
15, AUDI 13
Audi received three goals by handicap from the
26-goal ERG foursome and charged ahead
with three more first chukker goals with Brazilian 8-goaler, Rodrigo Andrade,
converting two 40-yard penalty shots for goals and adding a goal from the field
for good balance. Agustin Merlos got
ERG on the scoreboard with a pair of penalty shots for goals. After the first chukker of play, Audi led,
6-2.
Audi stretched the lead to five goals in the second as
Nic Roldan scored on a 40-yard penalty shot and Andrade added a goal from the
field. Sebastian Merlos scored the only
ERG goal of the period, as they trailed, 8-3.
A recharged ERG team took the field in the third with a
new focus. Paco de Narvaez added two
goals and Agustin Merlos scored three consecutive times to tie it up at 8-8 as the
first half came to a close.
Sebastian Merlos scored the go-ahead goal in the fourth
and Agustin Merlos added another as ERG moved in front, 10-8. Roldan responded with a pair of penalty goals
and the game was all even at 10-10 as the period ended.
ERG eked ahead 13-12 as they picked up three penalty
goals from Agustin Merlos. Audi
responded with a goal from the field from Andrade and a penalty conversion from
Roldan.
Agustin Merlos scored to put ERG in front, 14-12, but Roldan’s
fifth penalty conversion of the game had Audi cut the lead back to a single
goal lead, 14-13. Audi struggled to get
control of the ball as time was running out, but a final goal from Sebastian
Merlos ended it in a 15-13 ERG victory.
Agustin Merlos was credited with ten goals (six on
penalties). Sebastian Merlos scored
three times and de Narvaez added two goals for the win,
Andrade and Roldan (five goals on penalties) scored five
goals apiece in the Audi loss.
ZACARA
14, ALEGRIA 11
On a sliding scale, with Miguel Astrada scoring nine
times in the first game and Agustin Merlos driving the ball through the
opponent’s goal posts ten times in the second game, it should come as no
surprise to anyone that Argentine 10-goaler Facundo Pieres would score eleven
times in the final match of the day in leading Zacara (3-0) to a 14-11 win over
Alegria.
Alegria scored first on a penalty goal from Fred Mannix,
but Facundo Pieres responded with a goal from the field for a 1-1 first chukker
tie.
Mariano Aguerre put Alegria on top, 2-1 with a penalty
conversion in the second chukker, but Zacara roared back. Three unanswered goals from Pieres ended the
period with Alegria trailing 4-2.
Four more Zacara goals in the third saw Magoo Laprida and
Mike Azzaro (replacing Joaquin Pittaluga) scoring single goals. Pieres added two more goals, with one coming
on a penalty shot. Alegria came up with
single goals from Julian Mannix and Tomas Garcia del Rio. The
first half came to an abrupt halt with Zacara in the lead, 8-4.
The two teams exchanged goals in the fourth with Alegria
garnering goals from Julian Mannix and Fred Mannix (penalty). Zacara responded with two more goals from
Pieres (one from the field and one on a penalty conversion). Zacara
maintained a four goal lead, 10-6.
A refocused Alegria team took control of the game in the
fifth chukker as the defense shut out Pieres and his teammates while adding
four goals of their own. Julian Mannix
scored twice while Fred Mannix and Mariano Aguerre added single penalty goals for
a 10-10 tie.
Del Rio converted a 60-yard penalty shot to open the
final chukker, but Zacara responded in strength. Three more goals from Pieres and a goal from the
field from Laprida closed the door on hapless Alegria as Zacara galloped to a
comfortable 14-11 win.
Pieres set the record on the day with eleven goals (four
on penalties). Laprida scored twice and
Azzaro added a goal.
Julian Mannix led the Alegria attack with four
goals. Fred Mannix added three goals (all
on penalties).Aguerre and del Rio each scored a pair of penalty shots for
goals.
The Thursday matches eliminated Audi (0-3) and La
Ensenada (0-3) from the tournament quarterfinals with ERG finishing in first
place in their bracket; Zacara in second place; Valiente I in third place and
Alegria in fourth place. All four top
finishers will advance to the quarterfinals.