Pieres scores 11 goals in Zacara win
By Alex Webbe
Cars and trucks ringed the field Saturday afternoon as Zacara and an Adolfo Cambiaso-led Crab Orchard team met in a battle of two undefeateds in USPA Piaget Gold Cup competition at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
A win by either team would assure them a spot in the semifinals of this year’s Piaget Gold Cup, while a loss would put them in jeopardy of being eliminated from the competition.
This afternoon, it would be Zacara, behind eleven goals from Argentine 10-goaler Facundo Pieres, that would win the day in a 14-11 win over Crab Orchard.
Zacara received one goal by handicapped and added three more in the opening chukker for an early 4-3 lead. Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea scored from the field and Facundo Pieres tallied on a 60-yard penalty shot and a goal from the field. Crab Orchard picked up a pair of goals from Adolfo Cambiaso and a single goal from Nachi du Plessis and trailed 4-3.
Hilario Ulloa tied it up in the second, 4-4, with his first goal of the game. Pieres answered with a goal from the field, and du Plessis had it all even at 5-5 at the end of the chukker.
Pieres took control of the ball from the onset of the third chukker and scored the go-ahead goal. Two more penalty conversions from Pieres had Zacara ahead, 8-5. Du Plessis finally got Crab Orchard on the scoreboard with a penalty goal to end the chukker, but it was Zacara that possessed the 8-6 halftime advantage.
Zacara added goals from Mariano Uranga and Pieres (penalty conversion) in the fourth, but Crab Orchard kept pace with goals from du Plessis (penalty conversion) and Cambiaso. The period ended with the 2010 defending USPA Piaget Gold Cup winner, Crab Orchard, trailing 10-8.
Three more goals from Pieres in the fifth were answered by a single Crab Orchard goal (du Plessis), and Zacara extended its lead to four goals, 13-9.
Ulloa scored his second goal of the game in the final chukker, and teammate and patron, George Rawlings, added another, but it was too little and too late. Pieres scored his eleventh goal of the day to give Zacara a 14-11 win.
VALIENTE 11, BENDABOUT 9
Valiente established early dominance, getting a pair of first chukker goals from Nacho Astrada and a goal from the field from team captain, Bob Jornayvaz. Gillian Johnston and Sugar Erskine each scored a goal in the first period for Bendabout, but Valiente took the lead, 3-2.
Bendabout 9-goaler Julio Arellano tied it at 3-3 with a penalty conversion to open the second, but three unanswered goals from Miguel Astrada closed out the chukker with Valiente sitting on a 6-3 lead.
Bendabout stormed back in the third chukker, with Arellano and Magoo Laprida opening up with consecutive goals. Miguel Astrada’s fourth goal of the game closed out the scoring, but Bendabout had cut the Valiente lead down to two goals at the end of the first half, 7-5.
Julio Arellano opened the second half with a penalty conversion and followed it up with a goal from the field to tie the score at 7-7. Valiente blew several scoring opportunities, and Bendabout found itself back in the game.
Miguel Astrada scored the first goal of the fifth chukker as Bendabout struggled to maintain the momentum it had built up over the past two periods. A second Valiente goal came from Jornayvaz and the period ended without Bendabout getting on the scoreboard, and Valiente back in front, 9-7.
Polito Pieres scored twice in the opening minutes of the final chukker to give Valiente an 11-7 lead as Bendabout fought to establish an effective attack. Arellano converted a penalty shot for a goal, but time continued to run out on the Bendabout efforts. A goal from Erskine crossed the goal line as the final horn sounded and Valiente left the field with an 11-9 victory.
“The team went well today,†said Polito Pieres, whose two goals in the final chukker accounted for the Valiente margin of victory. “I thought both Nacho (Astrada) and Miguel (Astrada) played really well today. I feel very good about or chances,†he added.
Sunday will provide a full slate of action in the 2011 USPA Piaget Gold Cup, with games beginning at 10 am (Lechuza vs. Las Monjitas; and Piaget vs. Pony Express) followed by a noon game between Faraway and Orchard Hill and a feature match at 3pm with Audi (2-0) taking on the undefeated Hawks (2-0).