Pieres shines in IPC
opener
By Alex Webbe
It was a heady opening of the 2014 season at the
International Polo Club as Villa Del Lago/Casablanca (Jim Zenni, Agustin
Obregon, Polito Pieres and Inaki Laprida) beat Palm Beach Illustrated (Jared
Zenni, Tommy Collingwood, Magoo Laprida and Facundo Pieres) 12-10 in the Herbie
Pennell Cup and earned a berth in the tournament finals at 3PM on Sunday,
January 5.
Boasting two of the most successful players in the game in Villa
Del Lago/Casablanca’s Argentine Open MVP Polito Pieres and Palm Beach
Illustrated’s Magoo Laprida, a member of the last two US Open Championship
teams, the opening game of the season promised to be a hard charging,
fast-paced event.
Facundo Obregon scored the first goal of the game for the
early lead but Villa Del Lago/Casablanca got on track with a goal from Polito
Pieres with less than 90 seconds on the clock.
In the waning seconds of the period Agustin Obregon took control of the
ball and raced over 200 yards down the field to put Villa Del Lago/Casablanca
on top, 2-1.
In a defensive-oriented second chukker, scoring was limited
to penalty conversions with Villa Del Lago/Casablanca outscoring Palm Beach
Illustrated, 3-1. Facundo Obregon opened
the period with a penalty shot that tied it up at 2-2 when Villa Del
Lago/Casablanca’s Pieres took charge of the game. Three consecutive penalty goals from the
Argentine 9-goaler (a safety, a 40-yarder and a 30-yarder) ended the chukker
with Villa Del Lago/Casablanca establishing early dominance behind a 5-2
advantage.
Pieres opened the scoring in the third chukker with a neck
shot that put Villa Del Lago/Casablanca on top, 6-2. Facundo Obregon converted a 30-yard penalty
shot for Palm Beach Illustrated, 6-3. Villa
Del Lago/Casablanca responded with three consecutive goals (two from Pieres and
one from Inaki Laprida) for a commanding 9-3 halftime lead.
Palm Beach Illustrated regrouped for second half play, and
matched Villa Del Lago/Casablanca goal for goal in the fourth. Pieres and Magoo Laprida exchanged goals in
the opening minutes of the chukker followed by a penalty goal from Pieres
(60-yarder) and a goal from the field on a well-executed effort by Jared
Zenni. Villa Del Lago/Casablanca
continued to lead but Palm Beach Illustrated was starting to hold their own.
Palm Beach Illustrated took control in the fifth chukker
with shutout defense and an offense that netted them three unanswered goals
from Facundo Obregon (two on penalty shots and one from the field). Palm Beach Illustrated had cut the lead to
three goals with one chukker left in regulation time.
After being shutout for the first time all day, Pieres
scored his tenth goal of the game in the sixth period for a 12-8 Villa Del
Lago/Casablanca advantage. A pair of
penalty goals from Facundo Obregon closed out the scoring in a 12-10 Villa Del
Lago/Casablanca victory.
Pieres led all scoring with ten goals (six from the field
and four on penalty shots). Agustin
Obregon and Inaki Laprida each scored a goal for the win. Facundo Obregon’s eight goals set the pace
for Palm Beach Illustrated. Jared Zenni
and Magoo Laprida added single goals in a losing effort.
The victory boosts Villa Del Lago/Casablanca into the finals
of the 20-goal Herbie Pennell Cup on Sunday, January 5th against the
winner of Friday’s Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Jeff Hall, Julio Arellano and
Nick Morrison) and Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Eduardo
Novillo Astrada and Nico Espain) game.