Faraway
takes Hall of Fame Cup with overtime win
By
Alex Webbe
In a nip-and-tuck match that saw the score tied six times
in the course of the game, a goal from Matias Magrini in the opening seconds of
the overtime chukker lifted Faraway to an 11-10 overtime win over Piaget
Thursday afternoon at the International Polo club in Wellington.
Nacho Badiola scored the first goal of the game for
Piaget by Faraway responded with goals from 9-goaler Santiago Chavanne and a
60-yard penalty conversion from American 8-goaler Nic Roldan. Faraway took the early 2-1 lead after the
first chukker of play.
Three more Faraway goals (two from Roldan and a single
goal from Chavanne) were countered by a pair of goals from Piaget 10-goaler Gonzalito
Pieres. Two chukkers into the game had
Faraway ahead, 5-3.
Badiola cut into the Faraway lead with a goal from the
field to open the third, 5-4, followed by a goal from the field from Piaget
team captain Melissa Ganzi to tie it up at 5-5.
Roldan closed out the first half with his fourth goal of the game as he
converted a 60-yard Safety got the go-ahead goal, 6-5.
Piaget bounced back in the fourth chukker with goals from
Pieres and Badiola while shutting down the Faraway attack. With two chukkers left in regulation time, Faraway
found themselves trailing, 7-6.
A 60-yard penalty conversion from Argentine 9-goaler
Nacho Novillo Astrada extended the Piaget lead to two goals, 8-6, when Faraway
took control of the game. Chavanne cut
the lead to a single goal, 8-7, with a goal from the field and Matias Magrini
tied it up at 8-8 with his first goal of the day. A final goal from Chavanne ended the chukker
with Faraway back on top, 9-8.
Sixth chukker action had Pieres knotting it up at 9-9,
and Astrada gave the lead back to Piaget, 10-9, with a goal from the field. With time running out and the pressure on,
Roldan tied it up with his fifth goal of the match to force sudden-death
overtime.
Forty-five seconds into overtime, a charge toward the
Piaget goal succeeded with Magrini tapping the ball through for the winning
goal in an 11-10 Faraway victory.
Roldan set the pace with five goals on the day and was
named MVP. Chavanne accounted for four
goals and Magrini scored twice in the win.
Pieres led the Piaget attack with four goals, Badiola scored three
times; Astrada was credited with two goals and Ganzi scored once in a losing
effort.
Roldan’s horse, ME, was honored as Best Playing Pony.