Las Monjitas goes to
2-1 with win over CT Energia
By Alex Webbe
Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Geronimo Obregon, Eduardo
Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) kept their playoff hopes alive Tuesday afternoon
by defeating CT Energia (Alessandro Bazzoni, Kris Kampsen, Joao Ganon and Nick
Manifold) in a 15-13 shootout in Ylvisaker Cup competition at the International
Polo club.
CT Energia received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal
Las Monjitas lineup but it was Alejandro Astrada scored the first goal in the
game on a penalty shot to make it 1-1.
Geronimo Obregon added a goal to give Las Monjitas the 2-1 lead after
the opening chukker of play.
Brazilian superstar Joao Ganon blazed into the second
chukker as he scored the first three goals of the period. Ganon converted a pair of 30-yard penalty
shots for goals and added another goal from the field for a 4-2 led. Eduardo Astrada scored the final goal of the
chukker, cutting the CT Energia lead to a single goal, 4-3, before crashing to
the ground in an accident that had him exiting the game in an ambulance. Sebastian Merlos was quickly recruited to
replace him to finish out the remaining 47 seconds of the chukker.
The two teams traded goals in the third with Alejandro
Astrada scoring three times (twice on penalty shots) and CT Energia responding
with a pair of goals from Ganon (one on a penalty conversion) and a goal from
the field from team captain Alessandro Bazzoni.
CT Energia rode off the field at the end of the first half with a narrow
7-6 advantage while Las Monjitas had to make adjustments to their lineup, with
the loss of Eduardo Astrada and the addition of Merlos.
Alejandro Astrada scored the first goal of the second half
to tie it up at 7-7. Ganon answered back
with a pair of penalty goals as CT Energia took a 9-7, two goal lead. Sebastian Merlos made his presence known with
his first goal of the match, cutting the lead down to a single goal, 9-8. Alejandro Astrada tied it up with his sixth
goal of the match, 9-9. Kris Kampsen put
CT Energia back in front, 10-9, with a goal from the field. Merlos and Alejandro Astrada closed out the
chukker with a goal from the field and a 60-yard penalty conversion respectively. Las Monjitas took the lead back, 11-0.
Ganon tied it up at11-11 on a penalty conversion, but three
consecutive goals from Las Monjitas (two from Merlos and a penalty goal from Alejandro
Astrada) had CT Energia trailing by two goals, 14-11. Ganon got CT Energia back into the game with
a pair of goals (one on a penalty shot), to trail by a single goal, 14-13. Efforts
to tie it up fell flat when Merlos scooped up the ball and raced down the field
to score the final goal of the match for a 15-13 Las Monjitas victory.
Ganon led all scoring with ten goals (seven on penalty
conversions). Kampsen and Bazzoni each
scored a goal in the loss. Alejandro
Astrada scored six of his team high eight goals on penalty shots. Merlos added five goals and Obregon and
Eduardo Astrada scored single goals for the win.