Lucchese and Lechuza Caracas pick up Ylvisaker Cup wins
By
Alex Webbe
John Muse’s Lucchese team took the field Friday afternoon
to face Audi in the opening round of play in the 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup at
Wellington’s International Polo Club, and walked away a 10-9 winner in a
hard-fought match.
Lucchese took early control of the game as Sebastian
Merlos scored a pair of first chukker goals while Audi was unable to mount an
effective opening period attack. Audi trailed
2-0 after the first seven minutes of play.
Both teams were miserly in their defensive efforts with
Lucchese’s Kris Kampsen being allowed the only goal from the field in the
second period. A foul committed by Audi
n the goal mouth had the officials award a goal to the Lucchese team for a 4-0 lead.
Audi finally got on track in the third with Nic Roldan
scoring in the opening twenty seconds of play.
Four minutes later Roldan converted a penalty shot for a goal and Audi
cut the Lucchese lead to two goals, 4-2.
Merlos scored his third goal of the game in the final minute of the chukker
and Audi found themselves on the losing side of a 5-2 halftime score.
The second half opened with both teams showing aggressive
offenses that resulted in goals. Kampsen
was credited with two goals from the field and a penalty conversion and
teammate Andres Weisz scored on a goal from the field as well. Audi
got two goals from Nico Pieres and one from Roldan. The fourth period ended with Lucchese
extending its lead to four goals, 9-5.
Audi continued to press the attack and Lucchese, for the
most part, did its job defending. Roldan
converted a pair of penalty shots for goals while Merlos managed a single goal
on a penalty shot for Lucchese. At the
end of five, Lucchese held a 10-7 advantage.
Audi pulled out all the stops in the final chukker of the
match. In the opening minute, a Lucchese
penalty sent Roldan to the foul line where he converted the shot for a
goal. Less than three minutes later
Roldan scored from the field to cut the Lucchese lead to a single goal, 10-9. Audi continued to press the Lucchese
defenders and they continued to come up strong.
Kampsen’s efforts at defending the talented Roldan may well have been the
difference in the match as time and again he frustrated the Audi 8-goaler,
limiting him to only three goals from the field on the day. The final horn sounded and Lucchese rode off
with the 10-9 win.
Kampsen and Merlos scored four goals apiece for Lucchese;
Weisz added a goal and the team received one goal on a Penalty 1. Roldan set the pace for Audi with seven goals
on the day, four on penalty shots.
Pieres added two goals in a losing effort.
LECHUZA
CARACAS 8, FARAWAY POLO 6
The 8-6 winning score for Lechuza Caracas in its win over
Faraway Polo belied the intensity of the match or the number of horse races
from one end of the field to the other in an effort to score, but it was
Lechuza Caracas, to be sure, that rode off with the win.
Despite a revamped lineup that included Argentine
8-goaler Polito Pieres and 5-goaler Carlos Avendano, goals were hard to come by
in the opening chukkers. In the first two periods, Faraway Polo was held scoreless
and Lechuza Caracas managed just two goals as shots at goal went wide and attacks
were defused at the last minute by disciplined defenses.
Victor Vargas scored the opening goal and the only goal
of the opening chukker. Polito Pieres
accounted for the only goal in the second as Lechuza Caracas built up a humble
2-0 lead.
The two teams erupted for six gals n the third chukker,
with Pieres converting three penalty shots for goals and Faraway Polo’s
Santiago Chavanne responding with one penalty goal and two goals from the
field. The first half ended with Lechuza
Caracas on top, 5-3.
Although the intensity increased, for the balance of the
game the teams were held to single goals in each of the three remaining
chukkers.
Pieres and Chavanne (penalty goals) exchanged goals in
the fourth with Chavanne converting a penalty shot for a goal while Vargas
scored a goal from the field.
Vargas scored his third goal of the game in the final
chukker. Pelon Escapite scored the final
goal of the game, cutting the Lechuza Caracas lead back to two goals, but time
expired before Faraway Polo could get another run at the Lechuza Caracas goal,
falling 8-6.
Pieres registered five goals for Lechuza Caracas, two
from the field and three on penalty shots.
Vargas added three goals in the win. Chavanne led the Faraway Polo attack with five
goals, four on penalty conversions.
Escapite added a goal in a losing effort.
Ylvisaker Cup action will continue on Saturday, February
2 with a 1pm match featuring ERG and Villa Del Lago followed by a 3pm contest
between Valiente and Orchard Hill.