Pilot Advances to Iglehart Cup Final with Victory over Coca-Cola
After La Indiana clinched the first spot in the 2018 Iglehart Cup Final on Sunday, Pilot defeated Coca-Cola 13-10 to secure the second spot in Thurday’s final. Undefeated in the Iglehart Cup, Pilot continued their impressive play, relying on the play of Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres, who combined for all 13 Pilot goals in the game. A strong attacking game from Coca-Cola, led by Sugar Erskine and Steve Krueger kept their team within reach but an array of impressive nearside goals from Gonzalito Pieres sealed the victory for Pilot.
Scoring on the first throw-in of the game, Erskine gave his team the early edge, with Krueger also adding a goal just minutes later to give Coca-Cola the 2-0 lead. Before the lead was extended any further, Pilot’s Gonzalito Pieres scored his team’s first goal to end the opening chukka. That would begin a run of 8 of the next 9 goals in favour of Pilot as the Pieres duo worked seamlessly together over numerous runs and passes to goal. A dominant 5-1 second chukka that saw perfect 4 for 4 shooting from the field and 1 for 1 from the penalty line, gave Pilot the 6-3 as Coca-Cola was forced to increase their attacks to reduce the deficit.
Despite scoring on six consecutive shots in the middle of the game, Coca-Cola was only able to reduce the deficit by one as Pilot held a 9-7 lead with just two chukkas remaining. Six fouls over the final two chukkas for Coca-Cola, resulted in advantageous field position for Pilot as they received four penalty attempts. Converting two of their attempts, Pilot kept their opponents from mounting their comeback as a late push from Coca-Cola wasn’t able to get them any closer than two goals in the final chukka as Pilot finished with the convincing 13-10 victory. The even scoring from Gonzalito and Facundo Pieres, scoring seven and six goals respectively, provided difficulties throughout the game as Pilot sets up a second game against La Indiana in the Iglehart Cup. The two teams played each other in their first games of the tournament with Pilot displaying a dominant performance in the 12-3 rout over La Indiana. Thursday’s final should feature a more competitive contest as La Indiana continues to build on their momentum from consecutive victories over Postage Stamp Farm and Goose Creek.