Zacaraand Coca-Cola remain unbeaten; Piaget downs Goose Creek
ByAlex Webbe
Zacara opened 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup action at theInternational Polo Club in Wellington with a fast-paced 11-8 win over CrabOrchard in a contest that saw 10-goaler Facundo Pieres score nine goals for thewin.
Both teams took the field tenuously in the openingchukker, looking for strengths and weaknesses in their opponents, with CrabOrchard striking first on a goal from Felipe Viana about midway through theperiod. Facundo Pieres finally gotZacara on the scoreboard with an impressive 120 yard shot with just under twominutes in the chukker to close out the scoring. After one chukker the score was deadlocked at1-1.
Crab Orchard got a leg up on Zacara in the second period witha pair of penalty goals from Matias Magrini (one on a penalty conversion) and agoal from the field from Mariano Aguerre. Hilario Ulloa answered back with a single goal for Zacara as theytrailed 4-2 after two periods of play.
The Zacara attack came alive in the third with Pieresscoring three goals from the field and teammate Ulloa adding another as theytied it up at 6-6. Crab Orchard pickedup single goals from Aguerre (penalty conversion) and Magrini as the first halfended.
Defense was the priority in the fourth chukker withscoring at a minimum. Nearly fiveminutes into the chukker, Pieres scored his fourth goal of the game to putZacara in the lead for the first time all morning. Magrini responded with a goal for Crab Orchardwith a minute left and the period ended with the score all even at 7-7.
Pieres and Magrini exchanged goals in the opening 90seconds of the fifth chukker, knotting the score at 8-8. With four minutes gone, Pieres carried thelength of the field for a goal to put Zacara back in the lead, 9-8. With a minute left in the period, Pieresscored again and the chukker ended with Crab Orchard looking at a two goaldeficit, 10-8.
Crab Orchard struggled to get back into the game in thefinal chukker, but to no avail. Superiordefense set the tone for the Zacara team as they kept Crab Orchard fromscoring. A push shot into the Crab Orchardgal by Pieres ended the match with Zacara registering their second straightwin, 11-8.
Pieres led all scoring with nine goals (one on a penalty shot). Ulloa added two goals for the win. Magrini set the pace for the Crab Orchardattack with five goals. Aguerre scoredtwice and Viana recorded a single goal in the loss.
Coca-Cola kept their record perfect with a convincing14-8 win over a shell-shocked Port Mayaca foursome in the second Ylvisaker Cupmatch of the day at the International Polo Club Sunday afternoon.
Port Mayaca received one goal by handicap from the20-goal Coca-Cola team, but were unable to score in the opening minutes ofplay. A Port Mayaca penalty in their owngoalmouth came just three minutes into the match, with Coca-Cola being awardeda goal on a rare Penalty 1(for a foul in the vicinity of the goal to preventthe scoring of a goal), 1-1. Thefollowing throw-in resulted in another foul against Port Mayaca, and in the courseof less than 30 seconds Coca-Cola had taken the lead, 2-1.
Port Mayaca executed a picture perfect play in theopening seconds of the second period, with Robert Orthwein passing to CarluchoArellano (Julio’s younger brother) who passed it to Marianito Obregon for thescore. The score was all even at 2-2,but that would be Port Mayaca’s only reason to celebrate for the duration ofthe chukker. Julio Arellano scored on apass from Tommy Collingwood and converted a penalty shot for a goal while agoal from team captain Gillian Johnston had Coca-Cola in the lead, 5-2 as thehorn sounded to end the period.
Julio Arellano added two more goals to the Coca-Colatotal in the third while teammate Sugar Erskine scored for the first time. Port Mayaca replied with a single goal fromCarlucho Arellano, and at the end of the first half Coca-Cola led, 8-3.
Julio Arellano and Gillian Johnston opened the secondhalf with single goals from the field, 10-3, before Port Mayaca could get onthe scoreboard. A goal from RobertOrthwein cut the lead to six goals, 10-4. Julio Arellano closed out the scoring with his sixth goal of the day asCoca-Cola was running off with the game, 12-4.
A determined Robert Orthwein got Port Mayaca in thescoring column in the opening minute of the fifth chukker, 12-5, but the daybelonged to Coca-Cola. Consecutive goalsfrom Erskine and Tommy Collingwood went unanswered and Coca-Cola left the fieldwith a 14-5 lead and one chukker left to play.
Coca-Cola coasted through the final seven minutes of thegame with Port Mayaca registering single goals from Carlucho Arellano,Marianito Obregon and Robert Orthwein. The final horn sounded with Coca-Cola celebrating a 14-8 win.
Julio Arellano was credited with six goals for Coca-Cola(two on penalty conversions). GillianJohnston scored three times while teammates Sugar Erskine and Tommy Collingwoodeach scored two times. Robert Orthweinled the Port Mayaca attack with three goals. Carlucho Arellano and Marianito Obregon scored two goals apiece and PortMayaca received one goal by handicap.
Piaget trailed throughout most of the game, but a lastchukker rally led them to a 10-8 win over Goose Creek in Sunday’s featureYlvisaker Cup match.
Tano Vial and Cote Zegers scored the opening goals of thematch for a 2-0 lead. Joaquin Panelo gotPiaget on the scoreboard with a single goal and the first chukker ended withPiaget trailing, 2-1.
Vial and Miguel Astrada exchanged goals in the secondchukker with Vial opening the chukker with a penalty conversion, 3-1. Astradadelivered a well-placed cut shot through the goal posts in the final minute ofplay to end the period trailing Goose Creek, 3-2.
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Third chukker goals from Luis Escobar and Zegers extendedthe Goose Creek lead to three goals, 5-2, but a penalty conversion by Astradacut it back to a two goal lead, 5-3 to end the first half.
Astrada cut the lead so a single goal, 5-4, on a 90 yardshot through the goal posts, but Goose Creek was up to the challenge. Maureen Brennan scored her first goal of thegame to give her Goose Creek team a 6-4 advantage with two periods left inregulation time.
Astrada cut the Goose Creek lead back to a single goal ona backhand cut shot through the goal posts in the opening minute of thefifth. He followed it up with a penaltyconversion that tied it at 6-6. Histhird goal of the chukker gave Piaget their first lead of the game, 7-6, whenGoose Creek finally responded. Vial’sthird goal of the game ended the chukker and tied it up at 7-7.
Piaget had struggled with the Goose Creek defensethroughout the game, but seemed to come alive in the second half, and Astradacredited the realignment of the team for their success.
“We moved Bollini (Juan Bollini) forward in the secondhalf and had Panelo playing a bit further back in the lineup, and it worked,â€said Astrada. “It allowed me more roomto operate in and with Bollini opening holes; we were able to break through theGoose Creek defenders.â€
The plan worked and Astrada went on to score three sixthchukker goals while Piaget held Goose Creek to a single goal from Escobar inthe 10-8 win.
Astrada led the scoring with nine goals on the day,including three penalty conversions, and was named MVP. Panelo added a single goal. Vial recorded three goals for Goose Creek(one on a penalty shot). Zegers andEscobar added two goals each and team captain Maureen Brennan scored once kin alosing effort.
Astrada’s 8-year-old Bay gelding, Chaleco, was honored as Best Playing Pony.