ERG
remains perfect at 2-0; Audi and Villa Del Lago even their records at 1-1
By
Alex Webbe
Hector Galindo committed two felonies early in the game,
stealing the ball from Pelon Stirling for the first goal of the game and then
picking Santi Torres’s pocket and scoring the second before as he led ERG to a
surprising 15-12 win over Valiente in Thursday morning’s Ylvisaker Cup game at
the International Polo Club in Wellington.
Following Galindo’s two opening goals of the game,
Valiente responded with single goals from Julio Gracida and Torres to knot it
up at 2-2. Galindo executed a daring cut
shot into the Valiente goal for a 3-2 lead, but with time running out in the
chukker Valiente team captain Bob Jornayvaz scored on a breakaway goal to end
the first chukker all even at 3-3.
The score went back and forth in the second period with
Torres scoring in the opening seconds of play to give Valiente a 4-3 advantage
before Jeff Blake tied it up for ERG at 4-4.
Galindo converted a penalty shot for a goal that was countered by a goal
from the field for Valiente 10-goaler Pelon Stirling, 5-5. Paco de Narvaez gave ERG the lead on a goal
from the field with 35 seconds left on the clock, 6-5.
Defense was the byword of the third chukker with neither
team able to score from the field. Four
minutes into the period Stirling tied it up with a penalty conversion for a
goal, 6-6, but less than a minute later de Narvaez closed out the chukker with
a penalty conversion of his own. At the
end of the first half, ERG left the field with a narrow 7-6 lead.
Torres opened up the second half with a goal from the field
followed by Jornayvaz’s second goal of the game for an 8-7 Valiente lead. Blake and de Narvaez closed out the chukker
with single goals to move ERG back in the lead, 9-8.
An opening penalty goal from Torres tied it up at 9-9 in
the opening seconds of the fifth Stirling scored his third goal of the match for
a 10-9 Valiente edge. Galindo evened it
up at 10-10 midway through the chukker, but a penalty goal converted by Torres
in the final 16 seconds of the period gave the lead to Valiente, 11-10.
ERG pulled out all the stops in the final chukker of
play. Despite Torres’s sixth goal of the
game that put Valiente (0-2) in front, by two goals, 12-10. ERG then rolled off five straight goals for
the 15-12 win. Galindo converted a
penalty goal followed by goals from de Narvaez and Blake to put them up
13-12. Galindo’s seventh goal of the
game had ERG (2-0) on top 14-12 with less than two minutes to play. De Narvaez scored the knock-out punch with 46
seconds on the clock for the 15-12 win.
Galindo led all scoring with seven goals (three on penalty
shots). De Narvaez was credited with
five goals (two on penalty conversions), and Blake scored three times. Torres set the pace for Valiente with six
goals (three on penalty shots). Stirling
added three goals (one on a penalty conversion). Jornayvaz scored twice and Gracida added a
goal in the loss.
AUDI
11, FARAWAY 3
Audi (1-1) emerged for a slow start to ride past a
struggling Faraway (0-2) team 11-3 in a noon shootout that left Faraway a
little short-handed in Ylvisaker Cup play.
Audi’s Nic Roldan scored the only goal of the first
chukker of the game on a penalty conversion with just over a minute left to
play. With little effective offense
being displayed, Audi left the field with an early 1-0 advantage.
Neither team got into rhythm throughout much of the
second chukker as well. Pelon Escapite
finally tied it up for Faraway on a goal from the field in the last three
minutes of the period. The two teams
took a dusmal1-1 score into the third chukker.
Marc Ganzi scored Audi’s first goal from the field on a
150 yard run after receiving a pass from Roldan in the third period. Roldan followed it up with a goal of his own
from the field and another on a penalty conversion. Faraway was unable to get on the scoreboard
in the chukker and trailed 4-1 at the end of the first half of play.
The pace picked up in the second half, but fouls and
penalties plagued any offensive efforts with scoring the first two goals of the
chukker on penalty shots before placing the ball directly between the goals
posts on a stellar 120 yard shot from the field. Roldan’s fourth goal of the chukker came on another
penalty shot, ending the scoring with Audi leading by a commanding 8-1 margin.
The two teams exchanged single goals in the fifth, with
Escapite getting on the scoreboard for Faraway while Ganzi scored in the final
12 seconds for Audi. After five chukkers
of action, Audi continued to control a 9-2 game.
Mariano Gracida added to the Audi total with a goal in
the sixth, followed by a goal from the field from Nico Pieres for an 11-2
lead. Escapite scored the final goal of
the game for Faraway with 31 seconds on the clock, but it was Audi driving away
with the 11-3 win.
Roldan scored seven times for Audi (five on penalty
conversions), to lead the field. Ganzi added
two goals and Gracida and Roldan each scored a goal in the victory. Escapite scored all three of Faraway’s goals.
VILLA
DEL LAGO 14, ORCHARD HILL 12
The final polo match of the day in the Ylvisaker Cup
tournament saw Villa Del Lago take control of a close game in the final chukker
of play to score a 14-12 victory and even its record at 1-1. The loss was Orchard Hill’s (1-1) first of
the competition.
Early play had Orchard Hill taking a 2-0 lead on a pair
of penalty conversions from Jeff Hall.
Agustin Obregon scored in the final three minutes of the period, but
Orchard Hill was in front, 2-1, at the end of the chukker.
The tempo of the game continued to build with Villa Del
Lago’s Jared Zenni tying it up at 2-2 with his first goal of the contest. The scoring went back and forth for the
duration of the chukker with Lucas Criado scoring twice for Orchard Hill. Magoo Laprida added two goals for Villa Del
Lago and Guille Aguero added a goal as Orchard Hill found themselves trailing
for the first time all game, 5-4.
Laprida (penalty goal) and Aguero added single goal s in
the third while Orchard Hill got two penalty goals from Hall and a goal from
the field from Criado. At the end of the
first half it was deadlocked at 7-7.
Hall scored a goal from the field in the opening minutes
of the second half and added another goal on a penalty shot to put Orchard Hill
back in the lead, 9-7. Villa Del Lago
managed a single goal from Laprida on a penalty shot, but continued to trail,
9-8, as the fourth chukker ended.
The fifth period belonged to Villa Del Lago as they
scored four unanswered goals to take a 12-9 lead. Aguero and Zenni each scored a pair of goals
from the field while shutting down the Orchard Hill attack.
Hall scored three consecutive goals to open the final
chukker of play, scoring once from the field and twice on penalty shots to make
it all even at 12-12. Aguero gave the
lead back to Villa Del Lago 13-12, with Laprida icing the game with a goal in
the final minute of regulation time for the 14-12 victory.
Hall led all scoring with nine goals (seven on penalty
conversions). Criado added three goals
in the loss. Aguero and Laprida scored
five goals apiece for Villa Del Lago.
Zenni registered three goals and Obregon chipped in a goal in the win.