USPA Piaget Gold Cup semifinals set
ByAlex Webbe
After two weeks and 18 games, Valiente (3-0), Zacara(3-0), Lechuza (3-0) and Alegria (2-1) emerged from a field of eleven teams toplay in Wednesday’s semifinals of the 2013 USPA Piaget Gold Cup at theInternational Polo Club in Wellington.
In the final round of preliminary play Sunday afternoon,ten of the eleven teams took the field, with the results defining thetournament semifinalists.
In two Sunday morning games, Zacara (3-0) kept its recordintact with a 16-10 win over Audi (2-2) while Alegria (2-1) managed to hold offMt. Brilliant in a 7-5 victory. At noonLechuza (3-0) handed Orchard Hill its second loss of the tournament while Zacaraunloaded on Audi 16-10. In the feature matchof the day, on the stadium field, ERG managed to sneak past a make-shift Piagetteam 7-6. )Piaget 10-goaler Sapo Casetwas sidelined with the flu forcing the reshuffle of the lineup that wouldeventually consist of Miguel Astrada, Lucas Lalor, Juan Bollini and NachoBadiola.)
Audi (2-2) took the field at the International Polo ClubSunday morning intent on defeating a powerful and veteran Zacara (3-0) lineupthat that came out on the winning end of a 16-10 score.
Zacara 10-goaler Facundo Pieres scored the first goal ofthe match in the opening seconds of the first chukker of play followed by agoal from teammate Magoo Laprida for a 2-0 lead. Facundo Pieres scored his second goal of theday on a penalty conversion, 3-0. Audi7-goaler Jeff Hall converted a penalty shot with 1:18 on the clock to get onthe scoreboard, and the chukker ended with Zacara in front, 3-1.
Facundo Pieres blasted the ball through the Audi goalpostsfrom over 100 yards out at 7:01 of the second chukker. Zacara is in front, 4-1. Hall responds for Audi with another penaltyconversion, cutting the lead back to two goals, 4-2. Facundo Pieres converted a penalty shot(4:31) and teammate Mike Azzaro scored with 18 seconds on the clock to end theperiod with a 6-2 edge.
Laprida scored the first goal of the third chukker forZacara, but Audi responded with a pair of penalty goals from Nico Pieres,7-4. Azzaro’s second goal of the gamehad Zacara in front by four goals, 8-4. NicoPieres scored his third penalty shot of the chukker, cutting the Zacara lead tothree goals, 8-5, to end the first half.
Audi got a jump start on the second half with threeunanswered goals to knot it up at 8-8. Gonzalito Pieres scored twice from the field while Nico Pieres scored ona penalty shot. A hard bump on the fieldhad Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea leaving the field. Fourteen-year-old Matias Gonzalez took thereins and joined the team on the field for the duration of the match. With two chukkers left in regulation time, itwas all even at 8-8.
An early penalty shot for a goal by Facundo Pieres openedthe fifth chukker, and gave the lead back to Zacara, 9-8. Azzaro scored on a backhander less than aminute later and added another goal from the field following the throw-in,giving Zacara a three goal, 11-8 lead. Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres exchanged goals, 12-9, with Zacaraextending its lead to four goals, 13-9 on a goal from Facundo in the last 10seconds of the period.
Laprida scored two more goals in the final chukker andFacundo Pieres converted a penalty shot for a goal. Audi’s Hall scored the final goal of thechukker, but it was Zacara that took the game, 16-10.
Facundo Pieres led all scoring with eight goals on theday (five on penalty shots). Laprida andAzzaro scored four goals apiece. NicoPieres set the pace for Audi with four goals (all on penalty shots). Hall and Gonzalito Pieres scored three goalseach in the loss.
ALEGRIA7, MT. BRILLIANT 5
Mt. Brilliant limped into Sunday’s second morning PiagetGold Cup game of the day with an anemic 0-3 record, but put up a fight againstan Alegria foursome that was battling to make it into the tournamentsemifinals.
Alegria’s Facundo Obregon scored the first goal of thegame but Mt. Brilliant responded with single goals from Bo Goodman and NicRoldan for an early 2-1 advantage.
Both defenses tightened up in the second with Alegria’sMariano Aguerre registering the only goal of the chukker. After just fifteen minutes of play it was alltied up at 2-2.
Alegria took control of the game in the third. Shutout defense was complimented by a pair of60-yard penalty goals from Aguerre and a goal from the field from JulianMannix. At the end of the first half, Alegria had forged ahead by three goals,5-2.
Santiago Chavanne cut into the Alegria lead with a goal fromthe field, but that would be all Mt. Brilliant would be able to produce in thefourth period. Aguerre responded with anotherpenalty conversion for a goal. The threegoal lead held, 6-3.
The Mt. Brilliant defense stepped it up in the fifthchukker, shutting down the Alegria attack. Roldan converted a penalty shot for a goal. Alegria continued to lead, but the margin hadbeen cut to two goals, 6-4.
Hilario Ulloa scored on a penalty shot for Alegria whileChavanne scored the final goal of the match for a disappointed Mt. Brilliant effortin the 7-5 loss.
Aguerre was credited with four goals (three on penaltyshots) in the Alegria victory. Obregon,Mannix and Ulloa scored one goal each Roldan and Chavanne scored two goalsapiece for Mt. Brilliant. Goodman scoreda single goal in the loss.
LECHUZACARACAS 13, ORCHARD HILL 11
With a 2-0 record, Lechuza Caracas was one of only threeundefeated teams going into Sunday’s USPA Piaget Gold Cup action while OrchardHill was looking to improve onits 1-1 record.
Orchard Hill showed up strong in the opening chukker,picking up a pair of goals from 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough and a single goal fromhis brother Matias. Lechuza Caracasmanaged only a single goal from Francisco Elizalde and trailed 3-1 as thechukker ended.
Lechuza Caracas regrouped and turned the tables onOrchard Hill in the second period. Teamcaptain Victor Vargas scored the first goal of the game when he took control ofthe ball in the Lechuza Caracas end of the field and made a brilliant return of250 yards for a goal. Elizalde tapped ina pinpoint pass from Polito Pieres for the second goal of the chukker, to tiethe game at 3-3. Vargas scored hissecond goal of the chukker at the 2:25 mark to give his team their first leadof the match, but a goal from Matias MacDonough with a minute-and-a-half on theclock had it deadlocked at 4-4.
The Orchard Hill defense stymied the Lechuza Caracas offensein the third while registering a pair of unanswered goals of their own. Matias Macdonough scored the first goal ofthe chukker on a goal from the field and the other on a penalty shot. At the end of the first half Orchard Hill wasriding a two goal lead, 6-4, off the field.
Orchard Hill stretched its lead to three goals in thefourth chukker on a pair of goals from Matias MacDonough and a single goal fromPablo MacDonough. Lechuza Caracas gotsingle goals from Vargas and Elizalde, and fell behind, 9-6.
Everything seemed to go right for Lechuza Caracas in thefifth. Pieres scored one goal from thefield and a goal on a penalty shot while 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero scoredtwice. The Lechuza Caracas defense keptOrchard Hall from scoring and took a narrow 10-9 lead.
Pieres converted a penalty shot to open the finalchukker, 11-9, but Pablo MacDonough finally managed to break through for hisfifth goal on the day, 11-10. Elizaldebackhanded the ball through the goalposts with 3:16 left in regulation time,but Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade backhanded the ball through thegoalposts from 60-yards, cutting the Lechuza Caracas lead back to a singlegoal, 12-11. Orchard Hill struggled toget back into the game, but couldn’t complete an attack. In the final seconds of play, Elizalde pickedup the gall and raced down the field for the final goal of the game in a 13-11 LechuzaCaracas win.
Pablo Macdonough and Matias MacDonough scored five goalsapiece for Orchard Hill. Andrade added asingle goal. A balanced Lechuza Caracasattack had Nero leading the scoring with four goals while teammates Elizalde,Pieres and Vargas each scored three times for the win.
ZORZAL12, COCA-COLA 11
After trailing 7-2 at halftime, Coca-Cola rallied with ninesecond half goals to tie Zorzal at 11-11 and force overtime where they lost12-11.
Zorzal scored three of the four first chukker goals withsingle goals from the field from Jason Crowder and Marianito Obregon and a 60-yardpenalty conversion from Mariano Gonzalez. Coca-Cola team captain Gillian Johnston scored her team’s only goal totrail, 3-1.
Three more Zorzal goals went unanswered in the secondperiod with Gonzalez converting a 60-yard penalty shot and a goal from the field. Crowder added a penalty goal and Zorzal led Coca-Cola,6-1.
Coca-Cola showed some signs of life in the third. Johnston added another goal and their defenseheld Zorzal (from Obregon). At the endof the first half, Zorzal controlled a 7-2 lead.
Johnston scored her third goal of the match and 9-goalerJulio Arellano added two penalty goals to the growing total. Zorzal saw Gonzalez add another goal from thefield and Mannix scored on a penalty shot. Coca-Cola cut into the Zorzal lead, but continued to trail, 9-5.
Coca-Cola managed to get both its offense and its defenseon the same page in the fifth period. Two goals from the field from Sugar Erskine and a 40-yard penalty goalfrom Arellano were accompanied with lights out defense that kept Zorzal fromscoring. The lead had been cut to asingle goal, 9-8 going into the final chukker in regulation play.
Erskine’s third goal of the day was followed by a penaltygoal from Arellano, giving Coca-Cola its first lead of the game, 10-9. Zorzal was awarded a Penalty 1, an automaticgoal, to tie it at 10-10. Mannix scoredthe go-ahead goal in the waning moments of the sixth in what looked like a winuntil a defensive foul sent Coca-Cola to the penalty line where Arellanoconverted the shot to tie it at 11-11, forcing sudden-death overtime.
The winning goal was scored in overtime by Mannix fromthe field for the 12-11 victory.
A balanced Zorzal attack had Gonzalez scoring four goals(two on penalty shots). Mannix addedthree goals to the total and Crowder and Obregon scored two goals apiece forthe win. Arellano’s five goals led the Coca-Colaattack. Erskine and Johnston each scoredthree times in a losing effort.
ERG7, PIAGET 6
A case of the flu sidelined Piaget 10-goaler Sapo Casetand forced the team to realign its roster for its match with ERG. Team captain Melissa Ganzi sat down to allowthe team to bring in 5-goalers Lucas Lalor and Juan Bollini, but it wasn’tenough as ERG took the game by a narrow 7-6 margin.
Agustin Merlos scored the first goal of the game for ERGwith Piaget’s Lucas Lalor accounting for their only first chukker goal. The two teams left the field at the end ofthe chukker in a 1-1 tie.
ERG erupted for three goals in the second chukker whileholding Piaget scoreless. A pair of goalsfrom Paco de Narvaez and a 40-yard penalty conversion from Merlos put ERG in frontby three goals, 4-1.
The two teams exchanged goals in the third. Single goals from Piaget’s Lalor and NachoBadiola were answered by single goals from Scott Wood and Merlos. At the end of the first half ERG continued tohold their three goal lead, 6-3.
In a case of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight, bothteams missed scoring opportunities with shots going wide, passes beingintercepted and sloppy teamplay, theteams exchanged single goals in the fourth. Merlos scored his fourth goal of the game while 10-goaler Miguel Astradascored his first goal of the day. TheERG lead remained at three, 7-4.
The two teams went scoreless in the fifth while Piagetmanaged a pair of goals in the sixth with Badiola and Juan Bollini each manageda single goal. With time running out, Piagetmade a final run at the goalposts with the shot going wide and ERG celebratingthe 7-6 win.
Merlos scored four goals for ERG. De Narvaez added two goals to the pot withWood scoring once in a winning effort. Piaget’sLalor and Badiola scored two goals apiece. Astrada and Bollini added single goals in the loss.
USPAPIAGET GOLD CUP SEMIFINALS
Following a series of shootouts to determine seeding, fiveteams (Valiente, Zacara, Alegria, Zorzal and ERG) took to the field in apenalty shootout that would not only decide the winner of the II/III Bracketswith Valiente beating Zacara for a top seeding. Then ERG, Alegria and Zorzal fought it out with Alegria surviving to qualifyfor the semifinals. Lechuza Caracas alreadyqualified by winning Bracket I with a 3-0 record.
A draw decided Wednesday’s USPA Piaget Gold Cup semifinalplaying pairings and order with Zacara facing Lechuza Caracas at 2pm while Valienteand Alegria will take the field at 4m.