Joe Barry Memorial Cup offers high scoring action in
opening games
By Alex Webbe
Thursday kicked off the second 20-goal tournament of the
year at the International Polo Club as Valiente II/Tonkawa downed Valiente I,
13-11; Lucchese manhandled Orchard Hill 15-6; and Audi ran over Alegria 15-8.
In Thursday’s opening match, Bob Jornayvaz’s Valiente
II/Tonkawa foursome snuck past a determined Valiente I team 13-11 in a game
that was in doubt until the final minute of play.
All three first chukker goals came on penalty shots as
Valiente I and Valiente II/Tankawa battled for control of the game. Julio Gracida scored on two penalty shots for
Valiente II/Tonkawa while Jeff Hall made good on a penalty shot for Valiente
I. After the first seven minutes of the
game Valiente II/Tonkawa held a narrow 2-1 advantage.
Nacho Astrada extended the Valiente II/Tonkawa lead to
two goals with his first goal of the game, but Santiago Bottaro responded with
a goal from the field for Valiente I.
Toto Collardin rang up another goal from the field for Valiente
II/Tonkawa, with Jeff Hall closing out the chukker with his second goal on the
day. Valiente II/Tonkawa held its narrow
one goal lead, 4-3.
Hall tied it up in the opening seconds of the third, but
goals from Bob Jornayvaz and Gracida (penalty conversion) gave them a two goal
advantage again, 6-4. Gracida added
another goal with Santiago Toccalino closing out the scoring for a 7-5 Valiente
II/Tonkawa halftime lead.
Gracida added two more goals in the fourth and teammate
Collardin scored again for a 10-5 advantage before Valiente I organized its
attack again. Goals from Robert
Jornayvaz and Bottaro ended the chukker with Valiente I trailing, 10-7.
Valiente I charged onto the field in the fifth, scoring
four consecutive goals while holding Valiente II/Tonkawa scoreless. A pair of goals from Hall and single goals
from Toccalino and Bottaro gave Valiente I the lead, 11-10.
From the opening throw-in of the final chukker, Collardin
took the ball down the field for the tying goal. Gracida added another goal just minutes later
and Astrada drove in the final goal with just over a minute left to play. With no productive offense in the waning
minute of play, Valiente I fell to Valiente II/Tonkawa, 13-11.
Gracida led all scoring with seven goals. Collardin added three goals and Astrada was
credited with a pair of scores. Team
captain Bob Jornayvaz scored once in the third in the Valiente II/Tonkawa win.
Hall scored five times for Valiente I. Bottaro added three goals; Toccalino was
credited with two goals and Robert Jornayvaz scored once.
LUCCHESE
15, ORCHARD HILL 6
Fresh off a win in the finals of the Argentine Open
Championship, 9-goaler David “Pelon†Stirling scored ten goals in leading John
Muse’s Lucchese team to a resounding 15-6 win over Orchard Hill.
“We had a couple of practices earlier in the week,â€
offered Muse, “but we really didn’t play that well. We really got it together today,†he added.
Lucchese received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal
Orchard Hill team and wasted little time in adding a pair of goals to it with
Stirling scoring one goal from the field and one goal on a penalty
conversion. Lucas Criado got Orchard
Hill on the scoreboard before the final bell sounded and Lucchese left the
field with a 3-1 lead.
Stirling added four more goals in the second while
holding Orchard Hill to a single Criado penalty goal. After two periods of play Orchard Hill
trailed Lucchese 7-2.
“The horses went well, the team went well,†smiled
Stirling, “it was a very good day for us.â€
Stirling would go on to add three more goals in the third
chukker with teammate Santiago Torres adding his first goal of the game. Kris Kampsen would convert a 40-yard penalty
shot for Orchard Hill’s only offense of the chukker as Lucchese left the field
at the end of the first half with a commanding 11-3 advantage.
Conditions didn’t improve for Orchard Hill in the second
half of the game. Goals from Andres
Weisz and Torres were answered by a single goal from Criado as Lucchese
continued to pummel their opponents, 13-4.
Weisz scored from the field in the fifth for Lucchese
while Orchard Hill settled for a single penalty goal from Kampsen. There was no relief for the Orchard Hill four
in the 14-5 contest with one period left to play.
Criado scored the opening goal of the final chukker, but
that would be the end of it for them. A
final penalty conversion from Stirling ended the game in a 15-6 thrashing by
Lucchese.
Stirling scored ten times for Lucchese. Weisz and Torres each added two goals in the
win and the team received one goal by handicap.
“I can’t remember the last time I missed so many goals,â€
said Weisz after the match. It’s
frustrating,†he smiled as he shook his head.
A solid dependable player, Weisz was responsible for a
number of assists and brilliant defensive plays throughout the match. He kept constant pressure on the Orchard Hill
defense and set up his teammates time and time again.
Criado registered four goals from Orchard Hill. Kampsen scored twice.
AUDI
15, ALEGRIA 8
Audi scored the final win of the day in a 15-8 pummeling
of Alegria highlighted by a nine goal exhibition by Nic Roldan.
Roldan converted two penalty shots and scored from the
field in the opening chukker for a 3-0 start.
Roldan converted another 40-yard penalty shot in the
second frame before Alegria responded with three consecutive goals. Two well-placed shots from Julian Mannix and
a penalty conversion from Mariano Aguerre cut the Audi lead to a single goal, 4-3,
but Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade notched his first goal of the game to
end the period with Audi on top of a 5-3 score.
Consecutive goals from Marc Ganzi, Lucas Lalor and Roldan
had Audi up 8-3 before any offense stirred for Alegria. Naco Taverna finally answered for Alegria
with a goal, but Audi continued to lead, 8-4.
Roldan added two more goals in the fourth, with Andrade
registering his second of the day.
Aguerre converted a penalty shot for a goal for Alegria as they fell
behind, 11-5.
A goal from the field and a penalty conversion from
Roldan had Audi riding off with a 13-5 score in the fifth before a pair of
goals from Aguerre cut into the growing lead.
With one chukker left to play, Audi held on to a six goal, 13-7
advantage.
Aguerre added one more penalty conversion in the sixth
while Andrade scored twice from the field for the final 15-8 score in the Audi
victory.
Roldan set the pace for the Audi team with nine
goals. Andrade accounted for four goals
and Ganzi and Lalor each tallied a single goal.
Aguerre scored five times for Alegria. Mannix added two goals and Taverna accounted
for a goal.