Valiente remains undefeated with 14-11 win over
Orchard Hill
By Alex Webbe
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Adolfo
Cambiaso) held a 6-5 halftime lead over Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Santiago
Chavanne, Pablo MacDonough and Matias MacDonough) Saturday afternoon in second
round play of the 2014 Maserati US Open Championship at the International Polo
Club.
In a choppy game that meted out nearly 40 fouls Valiente
managed to outlast Orchard Hill to maintain a perfect 2-0 record. The loss was Orchard Hill’s second without a
win, and will make any playoff hopes for Steve Van Andel’s team an uphill
battle.
Ten-goaler Pablo MacDonough scored the first goal of the
game on a 40-yard penalty shot to go up 1-0.
Cambiaso responded with a goal for Valiente that had it all even at
1-1. Pablo MacDonough’s second goal of the
game came at the 2:51 mark and gave the lead back to Orchard Hill, 2-1. Sapo Caset tied it up with his first goal of
the game in with just 37 seconds on the clock.
The first chukker ended in a 2-2 deadlock.
Valiente added single goals from the field from Santi Torres
and Caset, but fouls cost them dearly.
Pablo MacDonough converted another 40-yard penalty shot for a goal while
teammate Santiago Chavanne scored two more foul shots to give Orchard Hill a
5-4 lead at the end of the second chukker.
The Valiente defense stepped it up a notch in the third,
shutting down the Orchard Hill attack.
Cambiaso scored his first goal of the chukker less than a minute into
play and added a second goal with 2:28 left to play. At the end of the first half Valiente was in
possession of a narrow 6-5 lead.
The two teams matched one another goal for goal in the
fourth. Caset converted penalty shots
from 30-yards and 40-yards and Cambiaso scored his fourth goal from the
field. Pablo MacDonough did his scoring
from the penalty line once again, converting three shots for Orchard Hill and
keeping them within a goal of the lead, 9-8.
Consecutive penalty goals from Pablo MacDonough tied Valiente,
9-9, and then took the lead, 10-9. Caset
kept it even at 10-10 with a penalty conversion of his own with just 39 seconds
in the chukker. With one chukker left in
regulation play the score was all even at 10-10.
Cambiaso’s fifth goal of the game came in the opening minute
of the sixth chukker, breaking the tie and giving Valiente an 11-10 edge. At 4:50 Torres scored to make it 12-10. Caset converted a 40-yard penalty shot as
Valiente moved in front by three goals, 13-10.
Matias MacDonough scored on a great individual effort, 13-11, but
Cambiaso put the icing on the cake with a powerful goal in the final 16 seconds
for the 14-11 victory.
Cambiaso and Caset scored six goals apiece for Valiente. Torres added a pair of goals for the
win. Pablo MacDonough scored a game high
eight goals (seven on penalty conversions).
Chavanne added two penalty goals and Matias MacDonough scored once from
the field. Of Orchard Hill’s 11 goals,
nine of them came on penalty shots.
Maserati US Open action continues on Sunday with Audi (Marc
Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade and Gonzalo Del Tour) facing Coca-Cola
(Gillian Johnston, Sebastian Merlos, Julio Arellano and Facundo Obregon) at
noon followed by a 3pm contest between Flight Options (Melissa Ganzi, Eduardo
Astrada, Miguel Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) and Alegria (Julian Mannix,
Clemente Zavaleta, Mariano Aguerre and Hilario Ulloa).