By Alex Webbe

As serendipitous as it might be, the arrival of Bob Jornayvaz and his Valiente I team and his son’s Valiente II team in the finals of the season’s first 26-goal tournament of the and the first leg of American polo’s Triple Crown at the International Polo Club in Wellington was anything but a pleasant happenchance.  The elder Jornayvaz along with Polito Pieres, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Nacho Novillo Astrada rebounded from a two goal deficit to score a 10-8 win over son Robert’s Valiente II side of Alejo Taranco, Pelon Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso.

With less than a minute gone in the first chukker, Stirling scored for Valiente II for a 1-0 lead, but an ensuing penalty stopped any momentum they might have been building.  A collision between Stirling and Miguel Astrada resulted in an injured Astrada dismounting and lying on the ground until attended by an ambulance.  Once he was remounted and play began, he converted the penalty shot that was awarded to them to tie it up at 1-1.  A second penalty conversion from Miguel Astrada ended the chukker with Valiente I holding a narrow 2-1 lead.

Goals from Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso opened the second period and had Valiente II on top, 3-2, before Valiente I stormed back.  Goals from Miguel Astrada and his brother nacho Astrada ended the chukker with Valiente I back on top with a 4-3 advantage.

Uruguayan 6-goaler Alejo Taranco tied it up on a penalty goal in the opening minute of the third, with Cambiaso scoring his second goal of the game just a minute later to give Valiente II a one goal, 5-4 edge.  The teams battled back and forth, galloping up and down the field until a Valiente II foul put Miguel Astrada at the penalty line once again where he scored to lock it up at 5-5 at the end of the first half of play.

A renewed Valiente II team took the field in the second half with Cambiaso taking the opening throw-in and racing 150 yards down the field for the go-ahead goal, 6-5.  Taranco scored the second unanswered goal of the fourth chukker and Valiente extended its lead to two goals, 7-5.

Stirling stretched the Valiente II lead to three goals, 8-5, with the opening goal of the fifth period, but Valiente I responded in force.  A penalty conversion from Nacho Astrada was complimented by a pair of goals from Miguel Astrada (one on a penalty shot and one from the field), and the chukker ended in an 8-8 deadlock.

Both teams continued to battle for control of the ball in the final chukker with shots at goal going wide and defensive saves being made under extreme pressure.  Nacho Astrada scored the go-ahead goal for Valiente I followed by a 40-yard penalty conversion from Miguel Astrada for the 10-8 final score.

Valiente I’s Miguel Astrada led the field in scoring with six goals (four on penalties).  Nacho Astrada added three goals (one by penalty) to the win and Polito Pieres scored once penalty goal.

Cambiaso and Stirling scored three goals apiece for Valiente II (one penalty goal by Cambiaso).  Taranco was credited with two goals (one by penalty).

Pieres was recognized for a number of great defensive plays as well as his aggressiveness by being named MVP.  Cambiaso’s Mila received Best Playing Pony honors.

VALIENTE I/TONKAWA 13, CIRCA 11

In the day’s noon undercard, Valiente I/Tonkawa scored a 13-11 win over Circa in the finals of the 20-goal Iglehart Cup.

Valiente I/Tonkawa burst out of the chutes in the opening chukker putting up four goals before Circa could respond.  Two penalty goals from Santiago Toccalino were followed by a goal from the field from Santiago Bottaro and a goal from Jeff Hall.  Hilario Ulloa converted a penalty shot to get Circa on the scoreboard, but Bottaro closed out the scoring with his second goal of the period and a 5-1 lead.

Goals from Guille Aguero and Hall had Valiente I/Tonkawa ahead, 6-2 in the second before Ulloa scored for Circa.  A penalty goal from Toccalino was followed by a beautifully placed backhand shot through the goal posts from Circa team captain Chris Del Gatto.  The period ended with Valiente I/Tonkawa holding a 7-4 advantage over a struggling but talented Circa foursome.

Martin Pepa gave Circa a shot of adrenalin in the third chukker with a pair of goals from the field to open play to cut the lead to a single goal, 7-6.  Toccalino converted a penalty shot for a goal to end the chukker with Valiente I/Tonkawa riding off of the field on top of an 8-6 score.

Jeff Hildebrand tapped the ball through the goal posts for a 9-6 lead in the second half, but Circa’s Ulloa kept the game close with a goal from the field.  At the end of four chukkers of play, Valiente I/Tonkawa held a two goal advantage, 9-7.

Toccalino scored to open the fifth chukker, 10-7, but Ulloa responded with a penalty conversion for a goal, 10-8.  Pepa added a goal from the field, 10-9.  Toccalino’s sixth goal of the contest gave Valiente I/Tonkawa an 11-9 edge.  A chukker closing score from Pepa made it a one goal game, 11-10.

There was no let up from Valiente I/Tonkawa in the final chukker of the game.  Toccalino scored the first goal from the field followed by a score from teammate Bottaro.  With time running out, Valiente I/Tonkawa held a healthy 13-10, three goal lead.  Circa continued to press the attack, resulting in a final goal from Pepa in the 13-11 Valiente I/Tonkawa victory.

Toccalino set the pace for the Valiente I/Tonkawa team with seven goals.  Bottaro scored three times.  Hall added two goals and Hildebrand added a gal in the win.

Pepa led the Circa attack with five goals.  Ulloa scored four times and Del Gatto and Aguero added single goals in the loss.

Santiago Bottaro was named MVP with Hilario Ulloa’s Bonita receiving Best Playing Pony honors.

LA ENSENADA 6, KIG 5

In a Sunday morning contest that was delayed by rain, La Ensenada rode off with a 6-5 win and the 2012 IPO Cup at the International Polo Club.

With damp grounds, both teams took the field and set off at a tenuous pace with La Ensenada received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal KIG lineup with Carlitos Gracida scoring the only goal from the field in the opening chukker (on a penalty shot) to put La Ensenada ahead, 1-0.

Tommy Biddle got KIG back in it in the second with a pair of goals (one from the field and one by penalty), tying it up at 2-2.  Carlos Gracida put La Ensenada back on top, 3-2, with the closing goal of the period.

Both defenses stiffened in the third with La Ensenada team captain Ernesto Gutierrez scoring the only goal of the chukker.  At the end of the first half, La Ensenada held a 4-2 halftime advantage over a talented Circa team that couldn’t find the opposing goal posts.

Defenses continued to rule in the fourth, but this time it was La Ensenada that was held scoreless.  A penalty goal from Biddle cut the lead to a single goal, 4-3.

Biddle tied it up at 4-4 in the fifth, but Matias Magrini scored on a penalty shot as La Ensenada continued to lead, 5-4.

Sugar Erskine’s first goal of the day deadlocked it at 5-5 in the final chukker of play, but Magrini finally put it away with a goal from the field in a hard-fought 6-5 victory.

Biddle led all scoring with four goals (three on penalty shots).  Erskine added a goal in a losing effort.

Magrini led the scoring for La Ensenada with two goals.  Gutierrez, Carlitos Gracida and Carlos Gracida scored single goals in the win.