Lechuza Caracas and ERG win in Piaget Gold Cup Play
By Alex Webbe
Victories
by Lechuza Caracas and ERG highlighted the second day of competition in the
2013 USPA Piaget Gold Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington in
Saturday’s polo action.
Piaget’s
Nacho Badiola scored the first goal of the game Saturday afternoon but three
consecutive goals from Lechuza Caracas 8-goaler Polito Pieres had Piaget
trailing 3-1. With just less than two
minutes left in the first chukker 10-goaler Miguel Astrada blasted an 80-yard
shot through the goalposts to cut the Lechuza Caracas lead to a single goal,
3-2.
Another
goal from Pieres opened the second period as Lechuza Caracas extended its lead
back to two goals, 4-2. Consecutive
goals from Astrada and 10-goaler Sapo Caset (penalty conversion) had it all
even at 4-4. With less than a minute
left in the chukker, Lechuza Caracas team captain Victor Vargas scored,
breaking the tie and giving Lechuza Caracas a 5-4 advantage.
There was no scoring until nearly
midway through the third when Caset tied it up at 5-5 with his second penalty
conversion of the game. Lechuza Caracas
responded with consecutive goals from the field from Francisco Elizalde, and
rode off the field at the end of the first half of play on the winning end of a
7-5 score.
Elizalde
and Badiola exchanged goals in the fourth but a late foul on Piaget sent Pieres
to the penalty line where he stroked the ball through the goalposts for a three
goal, 9-6 lead.
The
two teams exchanged goals in the fifth, with Astrada and Caset scoring single
goals for Piaget while Vargas and Pieres did the same. The chukker ended with Lechuza Caracas
maintaining its three goal lead, 11-8.
Piaget
continued to press in the final chukker.
A foul cost Lechuza Caracas another goal as Caset stroked the ball
across the goal line, and just a minute later, the talented 10-goaler unloaded
on a 110 yard shot that had Piaget within a goal, 11-10. The Lechuza Caracas defense tightened in the final
minutes of the game, putting an end to any thought of a successful rally. Pieres picked up the final goal of the game
at the 1:15 mark, racing the length of the field for the score, and Lechuza
Caracas celebrated the 12-10 win.
Pieres
led all scoring with seven goals.
Elizalde accounted for three scores and Vargas added two goals in the
victory. Caset scored five times for
Piaget. Astrada added four goals and Badiola
was credited with a single goal in the loss.
ERG 16, ORCHARD HILL 11
In
a high-scoring run-and-gun contest that saw 27 goals being scored, Scott Wood’s
ERG team posted an impressive 16-11 win over Steve Van Andel’s Orchard Hill
lineup in USPA Piaget Gold Cup play to end the day’s competition.
Orchard
Hill took control of the opening throw-in as Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade
scored for the 1-0 lead. It would be
nearly four minutes later until wood would score the second goal of the match
to deadlock it at 1-1. Eduardo Astrada
made it 2-1, ERG, at the 2:32 mark in the final goal of the chukker. It was Orchard Hill that trailed by a single
goal after the opening chukker.
Matias
Macdonough tied it up on a penalty conversion in the opening 30 seconds of the
second chukker, 2-2, when ERG took control.
Three consecutive goals from ERG (two from Paco de Narvaez and a penalty
goal from Agustin Merlos) ended the chukker with Orchard Hill falling behind by
three goals, 5-2.
Matias
MacDonough cut the ERG lead to two goals, 5-3, after a 200-yard run at goal,
but a Merlos put ERG back in charge with a pair of goals (one from the field and
one on a penalty shot), that gave ERG a four goal 7-3 lead. Midway through the chukker, 10-goaler Pablo
Macdonough scored his first goal of the game, 8-4, and his brother Matias
MacDonough closed it out in the final minute of the period with a goal to put
ERG on top of a three goal, 8-5 lead.
Things
got no better for Orchard Hill in the second half. Merlos and Matias MacDonough exchanged penalty
goals in the fourth. Orchard Hill team
captain Steve Van Andel carried the ball through the goalposts after a long
run, cutting the lead to two goals, 9-7, when ERG came alive. Consecutive goals from de Narvaez ended the
period with ERG out in front, 11-7.
Orchard
Hill and ERG swapped goals once again in the fifth. Astrada and Paco de Narvaez (penalty goal) each
added a goal, but Astrada and de Narvaez (penalty goal) responded in kind. ERG continued to control the game with a four
goal edge, 13-9.
Sixth
chukker goals from de Narvaez and Merlos had ERG in front, 15-9 before a Matias
Macdonough 60-yard penalty goal found its mark, but ERG continued to lead, by a
comfortable 15-10 margin. Merlos scored again to put ERG up by six,
16-10, with Matias MacDonough scoring the final goal in the 16-11 ERG victory.
Merlos
led the ERG attack with seven goals; de Narvaez scored six times. Astrada was credited with two goals while Wood
added a goal for the win. Matias
MacDonough scored seven goals in the game (four on penalty shots). Pablo MacDonough registered a pair of goals
in the loss, with single goals coming from Andrade and Van Andel.