Cambiaso returns to
Valiente lineup for C. V. Whitney title win
By Alex Webbe
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Adolfo
Cambiaso) broke open a tight game against Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel,
Santiago Chavanne, Pablo MacDonough and Matias MacDonough) with a strong fifth
chukker that gave them a 12-8 lead, an edge they held through a scoreless sixth
chukker to win the 2014 C. V. Whitney Cup at the International Polo club Sunday
afternoon.
Behind the leadership of 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, who had
been injured in semifinal action (elbow), Valiente was able to bust the game
open, scoring seven times in the fourth and fifth periods, and ride on to the
win.
In a defensively-oriented opening chukker, Cambiaso scored
the only goal midway through the period for a humble 1-0 lead.
Santi Torres converted a 60-yard Safety to open the second,
2-0. Consecutive goals from Pablo
MacDonough and his brother, Matias MacDonough (60-yard penalty conversion) tied
it up at 2-2. Sapo Caset broke the tie
with a short penalty shot for a goal, 3-2, and Torres made it 4-2 on a great
individual effort in the final second of the chukker.
Steve Van Andel scored for Orchard Hill to open the third,
4-3, but Cambiaso responded with a goal from the field for a 5-3 Valiente
advantage. Santiago Chavanne kept the
pressure on Valiente with the final goal of the period. Valiente continued to lead, but Orchard Hill
was within a goal of the lead.
Caset converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal to open
the second half, followed by a goal from the field from the 9-goaler, 7-4. The MacDonough brothers responded in kind,
with single goals from Pablo and then Matias to bring Orchard Hill to within a
goal, 7-6.Caset converted a penalty shot for a goal and Cambiaso added a goal
from the field for Valiente, 9-6. Pablo
MacDonough scored on a 40-yard penalty shot to end the chukker trailing
Valiente, 9-7.
Valiente’s pace seemed to quicken in the fifth. Cambiaso scored back-to-back goals for a
comfortable 11-7 lead. Matias MacDonough
converted a 30-yard penalty shot, 11-8, but Caset countered with a penalty goal
of his own. The fifth period ended with Valiente
on top of a12-8 score.
Orchard Hill did everything they could to get back into the
game in the sixth, but there was no give y the Valiente defense. The two teams played without a score in the final
chukker despite a number of near scores.
When the final horn sounded, Valiente celebrated the 12-8 win.
Cambiaso and Caset led the Valiente attack with five goals
each. Torres added a pair of goals for
the victory and was named MVP. The
MacDonough brothers scored three goals apiece.
Van Andel and Chavanne each added a goal in a losing effort.
Bob Jornayvaz’s horse, Boeing,
(played by Cambiaso) received Best Playing Pony honors.
FLIGHT OPTIONS WINS
A confident Audi team (Marc Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo
Andrade and Gonzalo Del Tour) took the field against Flight Options (Grant
Ganzi, Eduardo Astrada, Miguel Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) in a lineup that
had Grant Ganzi replacing his mother, Melissa Ganzi, but came up short, 11-10,
in the finals of the 2014 Les Armour Memorial Cup (the subsidiary of the C. V.
Whitney Cup) earlier in the day.
A pair of first chukker goals from 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres
went unanswered as Audi left the field after the first seven minutes of play
with a 2-0 lead.
The two teams exchanged goals in the second period with
Miguel Astrada scoring from the field while his brother Alejandro Astrada
scored on a 30-yard penalty shot. Audi
picked up a 60-yard penalty goal from Pieres and a goal from the field from
Gonzalo Del Tour. Audi remained on top,
4-2.
Flight Options cut into the Audi lead in the third. Following a goal from Rodrigo Andrade, 5-2,
Flight Options answered back with two goals from Alejandro Astrada (one on a
penalty shot). Audi’s lead had been
pared down to a single goal at the end of the first half, 5-4.
Eduardo Astrada exploded for three goals in the fourth
chukker and Miguel Astrada added another while holding Audi scoreless. Flight Options blasted ahead of a bewildered
Audi foursome by three goals, 8-5.
Pieres scored three consecutive goals to open the fifth
chukker, tying Flight Options, 8-8. Alejandro
Astrada converted a penalty shot for a 9-8 Flight Options lead followed by a single
goal from Eduardo Astrada that ended the chukker with Audi behind by two goals,
10-8.
Del tour opened the sixth with a pair of goals from the field
that deadlocked it at 10-10, but Flight Options wasn’t willing to let the game
slip away. Alejandro Astrada’s fifth
goal of the game carried the day and delivered the Les Armour Memorial Cup to
Flight Options, 11-10.
Pieres led all scoring with six goals. Del Tour scored three goals and Andrade added
a goal in the loss. Alejandro Astrada
scored three of his team-high five goals on penalty shots. Eduardo Astrada added four goals and Miguel
Astrada was credited with two goals in the win.
Audi’s Rodrigo Andrade was named MVP while Pieres‘s Consagrada received Best Playing Pony
honors.
High-goal action will continue on Wednesday, March 5th with
Faraway (Hutton Goodman, Martin Pepa, Santiago Chavanne and Mariano Gonzalez) meeting
Los Machitos/Heathcote (Steve Lefkowitz, sterling Giannico, Matias Magrini and
Hilario Ulloa).