Wins by El Cabure and
Valiente set up Ylvisaker Cup finals
By Alex Webbe
Wins by El Cabure (Scott Wood, Sugar Erskine, Agustin Merlos
and Carlucho Arellano) and Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset
and Tomas Garbarini) in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon at the International
Polo Club set up Sunday’s finals of the 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup.
The opening match of the day between El Cabure and Lechuza
Caracas (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Juan Martin Nero and Martin Espain) was
tied six times in the course of the game before El Cabure exploded with three
unanswered goals in the final chukker of the game for the win.
Juan Martin Nero scored the first goal of the game to give Lechuza
Caracas the early 1-0 lead, but that was when El Cabure took control of the
match. A 40-yard penalty conversion for
a goal from Agustin Merlos was followed by a goal from the field from the
former 10-goaler. Sugar Erskine scored the
final goal of the chukker with just 43 seconds on the clock for a 3-1 advantage.
After just a minute into the second period Merlos extended
the El Cabure lead to three goals, 4-1.
Nero responded with a penalty goal, 4-2, but Carlucho Arellano scored El
Cabure’s fifth goal of the game for a 5-2 lead.
A visibly shaken Lechuza Caracas team got their legs back
under them in the third. Nero opened the
chukker with three consecutive goals to tie it up at 5-5. A goal from team captain Victor Vargas gave Lechuza
Caracas their first lead since the opening goal of the match, 6-5. Merlos tied it up on a 60-yard penalty shot
with just 17 seconds on the clock for a 6-6 halftime tie.
Merlos and Nero exchanged goals to open the second half,
7-7. Vargas added a go-ahead goal for Lechuza
Caracas, but a goal from Erskine had it all even at 8-8 with two chukkers left
to play.
Goals were hard to come by in the fifth as both teams
struggled to put together a successful attack.
Merlos and Nero traded penalty goals, but the chukker ended with the two
deadlocked at 9-9.
Lechuza committed a couple of crucial fouls that resulted in
two penalty goals for Lechuza Caracas that were converted by Merlos. Merlos added a goal from the field while the Lechuza
Caracas offense disappeared. When the
final horn sounded, El Cabure found themselves boosted into the finals of the 2014
Ylvisaker Cup on the strength of the 12-9 victory.
Merlos led all scoring with nine goals (five on penalty
conversions). Erskine added two goals
and Arellano had the game of his life while adding another goal to the El
Cabure total.
VALIENTE 8, LAS
MONJITAS 7
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Tomas
Garbarini) struggled to an 8-7 win over Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Geronimo
Obregon, Eduardo Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) in the second Ylvisaker Cup semifinal
of the day.
Las Monjitas received one goal by handicap from the 21-goal
Valiente team, but fouled and sent Sapo Caset to the penalty line with just 12
seconds left in the opening chukker. Caset
converted the shot and the two teams left the field at the end of the first
chukker in a 1-1 tie.
Penalties continued to set the course for the day in second
chukker. Alejandro Astrada converted a
penalty shot for Las Monjitas in the opening minute of play and added a 60-yard
conversion with 32 seconds left on the clock in the second period for a 3-1 lead.
Geronimo Obregon scored his first goal of the day for a 4-1
Las Monjitas lead. Caset answered back
with two penalty goals, cutting the Las Monjitas lead to one goal, 4-3 halftime
lead.
Caset converted a pair of 60-yard penalty shots for goals in
the fourth that went unanswered, giving Valiente a 5-4 edge. A penalty conversion by Alejandro Astrada was
countered by a goal from Caset. The
fifth chukker ended with Valiente guarding a narrow 6-5 advantage.
With both teams struggling to mount an attack Caset converted
a penalty shot and scored Valiente’s first goal from the field. Las Monjitas ended the period with a pair of
penalty conversions in the 8-7 loss.
Caset led all scoring with seven goals. Torres
added a goal for the victory. Las
Monjitas received one gal by handicap and got five goals from Alejandro
Astrada. Obregon added a goal in the
loss.
Final action is scheduled to be played on Sunday on the
stadium field at 3pm. #IPCsundayPolo