Valiente continues to
roll; ERG comes up with a win in U. S. Open play
By
Alex Webbe
Adolfo Cambiaso scored six times and Valiente chalked up
their second victory with a 12-9 win over Audi, but it wasn’t a day at the park
for Bob Jornayvaz and company, as action in the 2013 Maserati U. S. Open
continued at the International Polo Club in Wellington Thursday afternoon.
Injuries to Bob Jornayvaz (hit in the right elbow with
the ball, and Ganzi-recurring injury to his right thumb) and Marc Ganzi caused
delays in a game (Ganzi left in the fifth chukker, with Juancito Bollini taking
his spot on the roster) that struggled to establish any kind of rhythm.
“They’re a good team,†said Cambiaso after the
match. “They’re going to qualify,†added
the 10-goaler, referring to Audi’s ability to qualify for the quarterfinals of
the tournament.
Valiente opened strongly, scoring three goals in the
opening chukker for an early 3-1 lead.
Cambiaso and Nico Pieres exchanged penalty goals in the opening minutes
of play for a 1-1 tie, but Cambiaso and Pelon Stirling added single goals from
the field for the early 3-1 score.
The second chukker was defensive in nature with Nico
Pieres scoring the only goal in the period on a penalty shot. After two periods Audi trailed Valiente by a
single goal, 3-2.
Nico Pieres converted another penalty goal just a minute
into the third chukker to knot it up at 3-3, but the tie didn’t last long. Less than three minutes later Stirling’s
second goal of the game had Valiente on top, 4-3. Ensuing goals from Santi Torres and Stirling
(penalty conversion) ended the first half with Valiente leading by a score of
6-3.
Audi rallied in the fourth as Gonzalito Pieres scored
consecutive goals to cut the Valiente lead to a single goal, 6-5. Cambiaso closed out the chukker with a goal
from the field to push Valiente ahead by two goals, 7-5.
A Cambiaso made it 8-5 on his fourth goal of the game,
but consecutive penalty conversions from Nico Pieres whittled the lead back to
a single goal, 8-7. With two minutes
left in the chukker, Gonzalito Pieres tied it up at 8-8, with his third goal of
the afternoon. Stirling gave the lead
back to Valiente in the final minute of play with a goal from the field. With one chukker left in regulation time
Valiente was holding a one goal, 9-8 advantage over a pressing Audi attack.
Cambiaso drilled the ball over 90 yards, out of a pack in
the opening minute of the sixth chukker to extend the Valiente lead to two
goals again, 10-8, but Audi continued to press.
A Valiente foul sent Nico Pieres to the penalty line at the 5:03 mark
where he converted another penalty shot for a goal, cutting the Valiente lead
back to a single goal with five minutes left in the period. Sixty seconds later, Cambiaso scored from the
field as the Valiente lead grew back to two goals, 11-9, as Audi struggled to
take control of the ball. Stirling
scored the final goal of the game with 28 seconds on the clock in a 12-9
Valiente win.
Cambiaso was credited with six goals for Valiente. Stirling added five goals and Torres scored
once in the victory. Nico Pieres led the
Audi attack with six goals, all on penalty shots. Gonzalito added three goals from the field in
a losing effort.
The win boosts the Valiente record to 2-0 while Audi
falls to 1-2.
ERG
11, COCA-COLA 7
It seemed like a good sign when Coca-Cola team captain,
Gillian Johnston, took the opening throw-in 150 yards down the field to score
in the opening 11 seconds of the game, but that was to be one of the few bright
spots all day for Coca-Cola as they found themselves on the short end of an
11-7 score.
Johnston’s opening goal held for over seven minutes until
a penalty conversion by ERG’s Agustin Merlos tied it at 1-1 at the 3:17
mark. Agustin Merlos scored again in the
last minute of the chukker for a first chukker 2-1 lead.
The ball was carried from one end of the field to the
other in second chukker play. A minute
and thirty seconds into the period, Agustin Merlos scored from the field for a
3-1 advantage. Julio Arellano responded
with a penalty conversion for Coca-Cola, cutting the ERG lead back to a single
goal, 3-2. A goal from the field from
ERG 9-goaler Eduardo Novillo Astrada ended the scoring with ERG in front, 4-2.
Paco de Narvaez scored his first goal of the match in the
opening minute of the third period followed by a goal from team captain, Scott
Wood, three minutes later, 6-2. A second
penalty goal from Arellano cut the ERG lead to three goals, 6-3, at the end of
the first half.
The Coca-Cola was firing blanks in the fourth chukker as
ERG had their way with them. Goals from
Agustin Merlos and de Narvaez ended the chukker with Coca-Cola trailing by a
humbling seven goals, 10-3.
Sixth chukker play had Coca-Cola having their most
productive period of the game. Arellano
scored on a penalty shot and a goal from the field while Coca-Cola also picked
up single goals from Sugar Erskine and Sebastian Merlos as the ERG team
appeared to be saving their horses. When
the final horn sounded Coca-Cola came up short and ERG celebrated the 11-7 win.
Agustin Merlos led the field with five goals on the
day. De Narvaez added three goals with
Astrada scoring twice and Wood adding a goal in the victory. Arellano led the Coca-Cola offense with four
goals. Teammates Johnston, Erskine and
Sebastian Merlos added single goals.
The loss drops the Coca-Cola record to 1-2 with ERG
sitting at 1-1.