Valiente and Orchard
Hill score wins in Ylvisaker Cup play
By Alex Webbe
The 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup continued on Thursday at the
International Polo Club with Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset
and Tomas Garabini) finishing up its rain-postponed match in a 13-12 win over
El Cabure (Kristie Allen, Sugar Erskine, Agustin Merlos and Carlucho
Arellano). Orchard Hill (Steve Van
Andel, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Marcos Alberdi) closed out the day by
defeating Flight Options, 11-9.
Valiente was leading El Cabure 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon
when the skies opened up and washed away the game. The two teams returned to the Number 1 field
at IPC to finish the bout, with Santi Scoring the only goal in the balance of
the “rain interrupted†first chukker for an early 4-2 advantage.
Second chukker action had Agustin Merlos converting a pair
of penalty shots while Sapo Caset managed a goal from the field for
Valiente. Valiente continued to lead,
but El Cabure trailed by a single goal, 5-4.
Tomas Garbarini stretched the Valiente lead to two goals at
the start of the third chukker, 6-4.
Merlos and Caset exchanged goals to end the first half with Valiente on
top of a 7-5 score.
Goals by Caset and Garbarini put Valiente in front by four
goals, 9-5, at the start of the second half.
Merlos responded with a goal from the field and a 60-yard penalty
conversion, cutting the Valiente lead to a pair of goals, 9-7. Erskine had El Cabure within a goal, 9-8, as the
chukker ended.
Torres and Erskine traded goals as the fifth chukker got
underway, 10-9. Caset scored the final
goal of the period for an 11-9 Valiente advantage.
Sixth chukker action had Torres and Caset adding single
goals for a commanding 13-9 advantage.
El Cabure tallied the final three chukkers of the match, with Erskine scoring
twice from the field and Merlos adding a 60-yard penalty goal for the 13-12 final
score.
Merlos led all scoring with seven goals (six on penalty
shots). Erskine scored five times from
the field. Caset led the Valiente attack
with five goals. Torres was credited
with five goals. Garbarini scored twice
and Jornayvaz added a goal in the win and the team received one goal by
handicap.
ORCHARD HILL 11,
FLIGHT OPTIONS 9
In the final match of the day, 10-goaler Facundo Pieres
scored six times in leading Orchard Hill to an 11-9 win over Flight Options in
the 2014 Ylvisaker Cup.
Lucas Criado scored the first goal of the game on a shot
from the field and Facundo Pieres added three penalty goals as Orchard Hill
shutout Flight Options for the early 4-0 lead.
Miguel Astrada got flight Options back in the game in the second
chukker, scoring the first two goals of the period to cut the lead to two
goals, 4-2. Fred Mannix scored the final
two goals of the chukker (one on a penalty conversion) for a 4-4 deadlock.
Astrada gave flight Options their first lead of the day on a
goal from the field, but Orchard Hill was ready. Criado scored the final two goals of the
chukker, giving Orchard Hill a narrow 6-5 halftime advantage.
The Orchard Hill defense stepped it up in the fourth,
shutting down the Flight Options attack for the second time in the game. Two more goals from Pieres (one on a penalty
shot) ended the period with Orchard Hill boasting an 8-5 lead.
Flight Options recorded fifth chukker goals from Juan
Bollini and Mannix, but single goals from Orchard Hill’s Criado, Pieres and
Marcos Alberdi had Flight Options trailing by four goals, 11-7, with one
chukker left to play.
Orchard Hill did what little they had to do in the sixth to
preserve their lead. Despite a pair of
goals from Mannix, orchard Hill would ride off the field at the end of the game
with an 11-9 victory.
Pieres scored a game high six goals (four on penalty
shots). Criado added four goals and
Alberdi scored once in the win. Mannix
led the Flight Options scoring with five goals.
Astrada added three goals and Bollini scored once in the loss.
Ylvisaker Cup action continues on Friday with a pair of 3pm
games. Audi (0-1) meets CT Energia (0-1)
in one contest while Tonkawa will debut against Lechuza Caracas.