By Alex Webbe
Adolfo Cambiaso showed everyone in the stadium at the International Polo Club Sunday afternoon why he is considered to be the top player in the game as he scored twelve times in leading Valiente II to a convincing 15-6 win over an impotent Alegria foursome in a quarterfinal of the USPA Piaget Gold Cup.
Cambiaso scored the first goal of the game less than a minute into the game, but Alegria responded with single goals from Tomas Garcia del Rio and Fred Mannix. The first chukker ended with Alegria on top of a 2-1 score.
In less than thirty seconds of the second chukker, Fred Mannix scored for a 3-1 lead, but that was when the sleeping Valiente offense got to work. An Alegria foul put Cambiaso on the penalty line just thirty seconds later when he converted a penalty shot for a score, 3-2. Alejo Taranco rode a rocket of a gray pony down the field and drove the ball through the goal posts from nearly 100 yards out to tie it up at 3-3. With just under two minutes left in the chukker, Pelon Stirling sent an 85-yard pass down the field to a racing Cambiaso who drove it through the posts to give Valiente a 4-3 lead. Cambiaso gobbled up the ensuing throw-in and carried it down the field to score the final goal of the game as Valiente I bounced back to lead by two goals, 5-3.
Cambiaso’s fifth goal of the game came in the opening minute of the third chukker to extend the Valiente II lead to three goals, 6-3. Two minutes later, Alegria’s Mariano Aguerre scored from the field, cutting the lead back to two goals, 6-4. Cambiaso took the following throw-in down the field again, scoring just seconds later for a 7-4 Valiente II advantage. Cambiaso’s seventh goal of the game came with two minutes left in the period and ended the first half with Valiente II ahead by four goals, 8-4.
The second half offered no more help for Alegria than the past two chukkers had as Valiente scored five unanswered goals in the fourth chukker. A pair of goals from Cambiaso was followed by a goal from the field from Taranco for an 11-4 lead. Two more goals from the “great one” (one from the field and one on a 60-yard penalty shot) ended the chukker with Valiente II coasting with a 13-4 lead.
Defenses tightened in the fifth period with neither team capitalizing on ball control or shots on goal. A goal from the field from Cambiaso in the last 50 seconds of play ended the chukker with Valiente II boasting a humiliating 14-4 lead with one chukker left to play.
Valiente II team captain Robert Jornayvaz opened the final chukker with a goal from the throw-in as Valiente II extended its lead to eleven goals, 15-4. Jornayvaz had another well-orchestrated run at the Alegria goal just a minute later, with the shot at goal going just wide. Single goals from Aguerre and Garcia del Rio closed out the game with Valiente II earning a berth in Thursday’s semifinals with the 15-6 victory.
Cambiaso was credited with an impressive twelve goals on the day. Taranco scored twice and Jornayvaz added a goal in the win.
Fred Mannix, Aguerre and Garcia del Rio scored two goals apiece in a losing effort.
VALIENTE I 11, LECHUZA 10 OT
Earlier in the day, Valiente I needed overtime to score an 11-10 win over a talent-laden Lechuza team to move into the Piaget gold Cup semifinals.
Lechuza opened the match with three straight goals before Valiente I could respond. A 70-yard goal from the field from 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero was followed by a pair of goals from Facundo Obregon for the early 3-0 lead. Miguel Astrada got Valiente I on the scoreboard with a goal from the field. Just a minute later a Lechuza foul in the goal mouth gave Valiente I an easy penalty shot in the goal mouth that Miguel Astrada converted. The first chukker ended with Lechuza leading, 3-2.
Lechuza got a single penalty goal from 10-goaler Sapo Caset in the second period but were totally abused by a relentless Valiente I offense that scored four goals. A 40-yard penalty goal from Miguel Astrada was followed by three goals from the field from Nacho Astrada and the game was all even at 4-4.
Polito Pieres scored his first goal of the day for Valiente I in the third chukker, but Lechuza countered with a penalty goal from Caset. The score remained tied at 5-5 at the end of the first half.
The fourth chukker belonged to Lechuza as they got a pair of penalty goals from Caset and two goals from the field from Nero. Miguel Astrada converted a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal, trailing Lechuza by a single goal, 9-8.
Lechuza team captain victor Vargas scored the first goal of the fifth chukker in the opening minute of play. A pair of penalty goals from Miguel Astrada ended the chukker in a 10-10 deadlock.
An intense sixth chukker saw the teams racing from end to end with no results. With time expiring and the final horn sounding, a sudden-death overtime period was forced.
Both teams struggled for control of the ball in the overtime chukker, but it would be a ball driven by Valiente I that would evoke a foul and put Miguel Astrada at the penalty line. With six minutes left to play, a Valiente I player was fouled, sending Miguel Astrada to the penalty line once again. The 40-yard shot was converted and Valiente I rode off the field with the 11-10 win.
Miguel Astrada led all scoring with seven goals (six on penalty shots). Nacho Astrada scored three times and Pieres added a single goal in the victory.
A balanced Lechuza attack had Caset leading the scoring with four penalty goals. Nero added three goals from the field. Obregon scored twice and Vargas accounted for a single goal.