Lechuza Caracas and Zacara pick up USPA Piaget Gold Cup
wins
By Alex Webbe
Wet fields forced the postponement of two more Monday
matches in the 2012 USPA Piaget Gold Cup at the International Polo Club in
Wellington, with only two of the four scheduled games taking place. Both games, however, provided plenty of
excitement with each of the games being decided in the final seconds of the
final chukker.
At noon, it was a last second goal from Sapo Caset that
powered Lechuza Caracas to a 15-14 win over Piaget while Nic Roldan’s tying
goal attempt just missed scoring as time expired, giving Zacara the 16-15
victory.
Lechuza Caracas 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero scored the
opening goal of the game after the first two minutes of play, but it was all
Piaget after that. Marc Ganzi tied it up
with Piaget’s first goal of the game followed by four more unanswered
goals. Nico Pieres scored consecutive
goals and Jeff Hall and 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres added single goals. After the opening chukker of play, Piaget led,
5-1.
Lechuza 10-goaler Sapo Caset scored Lechuza’s second goal
of the day on a penalty shot less than a minute into the second chukker,
5-2. Hall responded by converting a pair
of penalty goals for Piaget for a commanding 7-2 advantage. Caset answered back with a goal from the
field, 7-3. Facundo Obregon racked up
his first goal of the game, and Caset cut the Piaget lead to just two goals
with a goal in the final seconds of the chukker, 7-5.
Both defenses tightened in the third with neither team
giving up uncontested ground. With 41
seconds left in the period, Hall converted a penalty shot for a goal and first
half closing score of 8-5, Piaget.
It was nearly three minutes into the second half of play
when Caset scored for Lechuza, 8-6. A
goal from teammate Obregon a minute later cut the lead to a single goal, 8-7. Fielding a pass from Nero on the ensuing
throw-in, Lechuza Caracas team captain, Victor Vargas, carried the ball through
the Piaget goalposts for the tying goal, 8-8.
Lechuza continued to press the Piaget defense, resulting in a pair of
penalties that Caset converted into goals and a 10-8 Lechuza lead at the end of
the chukker.
Both teams battled for control of the ball in the fifth
chukker, with Piaget attempting to stop the bleeding and Lechuza trying to keep
the momentum going. Two minutes into the
period Hall converted a 40-yard penalty shot, cutting the Lechuza lead down to
a single goal, 10-9. Obregon responded
with a goal from the field followed by a spectacular neckshot for a goal from
Nero. The Lechuza lead hung at 12-9 with
over five minutes left in the chukker.
Nico Pieres fired back for Piaget followed by a goal from brother and
teammate, Gonzalito Pieres, cutting the lead down to a single goal, 12-11 halfway
through the period. Matt Coppola (substituting
for Ganzi at the end of the fourth chukker-no injury, business meeting in New
York) tied it up at 12-12 with 2:22 left in the chukker, and a gal from Hall
with less than two minutes in the period gave the led back to Piaget, 13-12.
Two minutes into the final chukker, Caset converted a
penalty shot to even it up at 13-13.
Hall responded with a penalty conversion for Piaget for a 14-13 edge with
just over four minutes left in the game.
Caset had it all even once more, 14-14, with less than two minutes on
the clock. A final drive down the field
was launched by Lechuza. The 30 second
horn sounded with Caset driving it through the goalposts just six seconds later
for the 15-14 winning goal.
“It was a tough game,†offered Vargas following the
match. “They’re a very good team,†he
said.
Caset led all scoring with ten goals (eight on penalty
shots). Vargas, Nero and Obregon added
two goals apiece for the win.
Hall was credited with seven goals for Piaget (six on
penalty shots). Nico Pieres scored three
times. Gonzalito Pieres registered two
goals and Ganzi and Coppola scored single goals in the loss.
ZACARA
16, AUDI 15
The twenty-three goal Audi team was spotted three goals by
Zacara as the game began, with Nic Roldan making it 4-0 just two minutes into
the game. Ten-goaler Facundo Pieres got
Zacara on the scoreboard on a penalty conversion, cutting the lead to three
goals, 4-1.
Pieres opened the second chukker with a 60-yard penalty
conversion in the opening seconds of play, 4-2, and Diego Arellano
(substituting for team captain Lyndon Lea) cut the lead down to a single goal,
4-3, as he carried the ball through the Audi goal for his first score of the
tournament. Audi team captain, Melissa
Ganzi, scored on a well-executed drive down the field. Roldan scored on a penalty shot and Rodrigo
Andrade took the ball from the ensuing throw-in and raced down the field for
his first score of the game, 7-3. Pieres
closed the chukker with a penalty conversion but Zacara continued to trail,
7-4.
Goals were hard to come by in the third. Roldan scored about halfway through the
chukker, but Arellano scored his second goal just seconds later. The first half came to a close with Audi on
top of an 8-5 score.
Two Zacara goals opened the fourth chukker with Pieres converting
a penalty shot and Arellano adding another goal from the field. The Audi lead was reduced to a single goal,
8-7. Roldan and Pieres exchanged penalty
goals, with Audi holding on the lead, 9-8.
Roldan scored from the field with under two minutes left in the period,
10-8. Pieres turned the game around in
the last minute of the period, however, scoring a goal with 56 seconds on the
clock, 10-9, and tying it up at 10-10 with six seconds remaining.
Roldan opened the fifth period with a 60-yard penalty
conversion in the first ten seconds of play, 11-10 and three consecutive goals
from Andrade made it 14-10 with Zacara struggling to stay in the game. Magoo Laprida picked up one goal for Zacara and
Pieres converted a penalty shot for a goal, but Ganzi’s second field goal of
the day had Audi ahead 15-12 with one chukker left to play.
Joaquin Pittaluga cut into the Audi lead with his first
goal of the game, 15-13, and two penalty conversions from Pieres had it all
even with under three minutes left in regulation time, 15-15. With 1:14 on the clock, Pittaluga scored a
goal that gave Zacara its first lead of the game, 16-15. With time running out, Roldan took control of
the ball and galloped toward the Zacara goal.
With 24 seconds left in the game, Roldan’s shot at goal went just wide
and the game ended in a Zacara win.
Pieres scored eight of his game high ten goals on penalty
shots. Teammates Pittaluga, Laprida and
Arellano added two goals apiece for the victory.
Roldan’s six goals led the Audi attack (three penalty
goals). Andrade scored four times and
Ganzi added two goals. Audi received
three goals by handicap.