Piaget,
Zacara and Coca-Cola qualify for Ylvisaker Cup quarterfinals
By
Alex Webbe
Argentine 10-goaler Miguel Astrada scored nine goals in
Piaget’s 11-10 win over Crab Orchard Saturday morning lifting their record to
2-1 in their bracket of play in the 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup competition at the
International Polo Club.
Piaget received one goal by handicap and watched Crab
Orchard’s Mariano Aguerre tie it up in the opening minute of the game on a goal
from the field. Both defenses kept the
scoring to a minimum for most of the balance of the period, but fouls got Crab
Orchard into trouble late in the chukker.
Miguel Astrada converted penalty shots at 1:29 and again with 25 seconds
on the clock to lead Piaget to a 3-1 first chukker lead.
Joaquin Panelo extended the Piaget lead to three goals
with a goal from the field in the opening 30 seconds of the second period. Two consecutive penalty conversions from
Matias Magrini cut the Piaget lead to a single goal, 4-3 at the midway point of
the chukker. Astrada added another
penalty goal that was countered by a pair of goals from Magrini (one on a
penalty shot), and the chukker ended in a 5-5 deadlock.
An early penalty against Crab Orchard opened the third, with
Astrada converting the shot for 6-5 Piaget edge. Mariano Aguerre tied it up at 6-6 with his
first goal of the game, but with 1:21 on the clock, Astrada gave Piaget a 7-7
halftime lead.
Piaget opened the second half on a roll, picking up two
goals from Astrada (one on a penalty shot) for a 9-6 advantage. With a minute left in the period, Crab
Orchard’s Felipe Viana scored to end the chukker trailing Piaget, 9-7.
An early Crab Orchard foul sent Astrada to the penalty line
in the opening minute of the fifth where he converted a penalty shot for a
goal. Two minutes later Astrada put
Piaget up by four goals, 11-7, with a goal from the field. Magrini finally got Crab Orchard on the
scoreboard with his fifth goal of the day, but Piaget left the field with a
three goal lead, 11-8, and one chukker left in regulation time.
Crab Orchard tried to press the attack in the sixth
chukker, but Piaget was up to the task.
Two minutes into the period, Magrini drove a pinpoint pass over 70 yards
down the field where a racing Aguerre picked it up and drove it through the
goal posts. The Piaget lead had narrowed
to two goals, 11-9 with Crab Orchard pressing.
Viana scored the final goal of the match with three minutes on the
clock, but Crab Orchard could get no closer.
Time expired with Piaget riding off with the 11-10 win.
Astrada set the pace for the day with nine goals, six on
penalty shots. Panelo scored once and
Piaget received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal Crab Orchard lineup. Magrini scored five times for Crab Orchard,
three on penalty conversions. Aguerre
added three and Viana was credited with two goals. The Crab Orchard fell to 1-2 with the loss.
GOOSE
CREEK 12, PORT MAYACA 8
A balanced Goose Creek attack that saw all four members
of the team scoring ran out to a 6-4 halftime lead before downing Port Mayaca
12-8 in the final preliminary round of the Ylvisaker Cup Saturday afternoon at
the International Polo Club.
Goose Creek got on the scoreboard early, with Luis
Escobar converting a 60-yard penalty shot for the first goal of the game. Single goals from Cote Zegers, Maureen Brennan
and Tano Vial closed out the chukker before Port Mayaca could respond. Goose Creek left the field at the end of the
first chukker with a 4-0 lead.
Marianito Obregon scored on a penalty shot and a goal
from the field in the second period while the Port Mayaca defense held Goose
Creek to a single goal from Brennan. Goose
Creek continued to lead, but Port Mayaca cut the lead to three goals, 5-2.
A penalty conversion from Carlucho Arellano in the third
and a goal from the field from Stevie Orthwein were answered by a goal from Goose
Creek’s Tano Vial. The first half ended
with Goose Creek boasting a 6-4 advantage.
Port Mayaca continued to chip away at the Goose Creek
lead in the fourth chukker as Obregon scored for the third time and Stevie
Orthwein scored his first goal of the game.
Escobar scored a goal from the field and the period ended with Goose
Creek defending a narrow 7-6 edge.
Stevie Orthwein knotted it up at 7-7 in the fifth on a penalty
conversion just three minutes into the chukker, but Goose Creek came
alive. Escobar scored two goals in a row
in just over a minute with Vial ending the chukker with a score that put Goose
Creek in front, 10-7.
Vial converted a 40-yard penalty shot in the opening
minute of the sixth chukker as Port Mayaca fought to get back into the
game. Four more minutes passed before
Escobar scored a goal from the field to give Goose Creek a five goal, 12-7
edge. Obregon scored the final goal of
the game with just over a minute to play and Goose Creek celebrated their first
Ylvisaker Cup win, 12-8.
Vial led the Goose Creek attack with five goals. Escobar was credited with four goals; Brennan
added two; and Zegers scored once in the win.
Obregon scored four goals for Port Mayaca (one on a penalty
conversion. Stevie Orthwein added three
goals, including a penalty goal, and Arellano converted a penalty shot for a
goal in the loss.
ZACARA
9, COCA-COLA 8
An anemic Zacara attack fell behind early but rallied to
score a 9-8 win over Coca-Cola in the third round of play in Ylvisaker Cup
action in Saturday’s final game.
Zacara 10-goaler Facundo Pieres converted a penalty shot
for a goal in the opening minute of the first chukker, and teammate Hilario
Ulloa added a goal from the field. Coca-Cola
got a pair of goals from Gillian Johnston and a single goal from Tommy
Collingwood, however, for a 3-2 lead after the opening period.
Goals were scarce in the second chukker, with Ulloa
managing a single goal in the final seconds of play. Coca-Cola and Zacara were all even at 3-3
after the second period.
The pace continued to quicken in the third, but scoring
was at a premium once again. The
replacement of Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea by 17-year-old Hugh Dollard didn’t
have the same cohesiveness as it had exhibited in its two earlier wins, and
scoring was more difficult for the realigned team. Julio Arellano scored on a 40-yard penalty
shot to secure a 4-3 lead for Coca-Cola at the end of the first half.
Fourth chukker goals from Coca-Cola’s Johnston and
Collingwood were countered by three goals from Pieres. The score was tied at 6-6, with two chukkers
left to play.
Erskine dashed away from the Zacara defenders in the
opening seconds of the fifth chukker for a go-ahead goal, 7-6, as Coca-Cola
tried desperately to leave Zacara in the dust, but that was not to be. Ulloa scored the only other goal of the chukker
and it remained knotted up at 7-7 going into the final chukker.
Ulloa gave Zacara the lead, 8-7 less than two minutes
into the sixth chukker, but Coca-Cola fought back with a goal from the field
from Erskine three minutes later to tie it up at 8-8. With a minute left in regulation time, Pieres
scored his fifth goal of the game, 9-8.
A foul was committed on the ensuing throw-in, and Coca-Cola was awarded
a 60-yard penalty shot with 37 seconds left to play. The shot by Arellano was caught by the wind drifted
to the right as Zacara celebrated the win.
Pieres led the Zacara team with five goals. Ulloa added four goals for the victory. Johnston led the Coca-Cola attack with three
goals. Erskine and Collingwood scored
two goals apiece and Arellano converted one penalty shot for a goal.