By Alex Webbe
It was a full day of polo at the International Polo Club in Wellington Sunday with four final preliminary matches play taking place in the 2011 USPA Piaget Gold Cup. Joining yesterday’s winner, Zacara, in the semifinals would be Audi, Las Monjitas and Lechuza.
Morning matches had Las Monjitas squeaking out a win over Lechuza while Pony Express needed overtime to down Piaget. The noon match offered the second overtime match of the day with Orchard Hill escaping with an 11-10 OT win, and Audi revved up its attack as it grounded the Hawks 13-8 in the stadium contest.
The feature match of the day had a powerful Audi team taking an early lead over the Hawks and cruising to an impressive 13-8 win and the final spot in the semifinals.
The teams finished the first chukker in a 1-1 tie with Freddie Mannix scoring first for the Hawks followed by an Audi goal from Gonzalito Pieres.
Audi started driving off with the game in the second, getting goals from Marc Ganzi, Rodrigo Andrade and Gonzalito Pieres. The Hawks responded with a single goal from Mariano Gonzalez and trailed 4-2.
The teams exchanged goals in the third, with Freddie Mannix and Gonzalez scoring single goals for the Hawks. Andrade and Nico Pieres responded for Audi who took a 6-4 halftime lead.
The Audi defense smothered the Hawks attack in the fourth, with a single goal from Gonzalito Pieres leaving the Hawks in a three goal deficit, 7-4, as the chukker ended.
Nico Pieres added two more goals to the Audi total and teammate Andrade scored his third goal of the day in the fifth. The Hawks scored on a penalty goal from Freddie Mannix, but fell behind, 10-5 with one chukker left to play.
The Hawks had their most productive chukker of the match in the sixth, getting single goals from Gonzalez, Freddie Mannix and his brother Julian Mannix. Audi, however still had a few rounds of ammunition left as well. Ganzi, Nico Pieres and Gonzalito Pieres each scored to close out the game with a resounding 13-8 Audi Win.
LAS MONJITAS 11, LECHUZA 10
Lechuza and Las Monjitas entered the Sunday morning match in interesting positions. Both had 2-0 records and both had beaten their opponents by large margins. The only way one of them was going to miss out on making it into Wednesday’s semifinals was if the game was a blow out, and an 11-10 Las Monjitas win didn’t quality.
Las Monjitas took the early lead on a pair of goals from Agustin Merlos and a single goal from the field from Eduardo Astrada as the orange-clad team looked like nothing would stop them. Sapo Caset scored two penalty goals late in the chukker, however, as Las Monjitas held on for a 3-2 lead.
Merlos and Astrada added single goals in the second with Astrada scoring from the field and Merlos converting a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal. Caset rang up a goal for Lechuza on a penalty shot, but found his team trailing at the end of two, 5-3.
Las Monjitas picked up another couple of goals in the third, with Merlos converting a penalty shot for a goal and Santiago Toccalino scoring from the field. Four goals from Caset knotted it up, however, at 7-7.
The teams traded goals in the next two chukkers with Caset adding two for Lechuza and Merlos responding, in fashion, for Las Monjitas. At the end of the fifth chukker the score was 9-9.
Merlos scored the first goal of the final chukker on a 40-yard penalty shot for a 10-9 lead, but Lechuza responded. Tallying his tenth goal of the game, Caset tied it up, again, with a penalty shot, and it was 10-10. With the threat of overtime in the air, Las Monjitas pressed the Lechuza defense, resulting in a foul and a penalty shot. Merlos was perfect on the 40-yard shot through the goal posts and Las Monjitas rode off the field with the 11-10 win.
There was little sorrow on the Lechuza side of the field, however, as both teams qualified for the Piaget Gold Cup semifinals.
PONY EXPRESS 12, PIAGET 11 OT
In the second Piaget Gold Cup match of the morning, Pony Express needed sudden-death overtime to score a 12-11 win over a resilient Piaget foursome.
Piaget received two goals by handicap from the 26-goal Pony Express team, and quickly added to it. First chukker goals from Lolo Castagnola and Nachi Heguy were supported by a great defensive effort for a 4-0 lead.
Pony Express responded with goals from Bautista Heguy and Santiago Chavanne, but Nachi Heguy converted a penalty shot for a goal for Piaget and Castagnola scored his second goal of the game to maintain a four goal lead, 6-2.
The tide shifted in the third, with Bautista Heguy scoring on two penalty shots for Pony Express and Juan Garcia Grossi adding another. Pony Express shut out the Piaget offense for the first time all morning and trailed by a single goal at halftime, 6-5.
Nachi Heguy got Piaget back on the scoreboard in the fourth chukker with a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal, but the Pony Express offense absolutely exploded. Three consecutive goals from the field from Bautista Heguy were complimented by another goal teammate Grossi ended the chukker with Pony Express running away with a 9-7 lead.
A resolute Piaget charged onto the field in the fifth chukker, scoring three unanswered goals and taking a 10-9 lead. Nachi Heguy converted two penalty shots for goals and Castagnola added another from the field.
Castagnola’s fourth goal of the game had Piaget up, 11-9, but Pony Express wasn’t ready to give up yet. Two goals from Grossi tied the game at 11-11 as the Piaget attack disappeared and regulation time expired.
After a brief recess the teams returned to the field for the final goal, with Grossi notching is fifth of the day for the Pony Express win. It was Pony Express’s first win of the tournament and left Piaget with a dismal 0-3 record after a valiant effort.
ORCHARD HILL 11, FARAWAY 10 OT
Orchard Hill finally got in the winning column with an 11-10 overtime win over a hapless Faraway team in Sunday’s noon Piaget Gold Cup competition.
Orchard Hill went up early, 3-1, getting a pair of goals from Argentine 10-goaler Pablo Macdonough, and a single goal from Lucas Criado. Piaget was held scoreless, but received one goal by handicap to start the match.
Nic Roldan and Lucas Monteverde finally got Faraway on the board in the second, but Orchard Hill responded with goals from Hector Galindo and Criado to maintain a 5-3 lead.
Faraway’s defense showed up in the third chukker, shutting down the Orchard Hill attack while tying the game at 5-5 with a pair of goals from the field from 8-goaler Mike Azzaro.
Roldan opened the second half with a penalty goal, but Orchard Hill responded with a goal from team captain Steve Van Andel, and the teams took a 6-6 tie into the fifth period.
Once again, Roldan gave the lead to Faraway with a goal from the field. Macdonough responded with a 40-yard penalty conversion and a goal from the field for an 8-7 Orchard Hill lead.
Galindo put Orchard Hill up 9-7 to open the sixth chukker, but three consecutive goals (two from Roldan, one from Monteverde) from Faraway gave them a 10-9 advantage with time running down. Criado’s third goal of the contest tied it up just before the final horn, and the teams were headed to overtime.
Galindo broke loose for the winning goal for Orchard Hill early in overtime, as Faraway ended up on the short end of an 11-10 score.
The semifinals have been scheduled for Thursday, March 17 with Lechuza meeting Zacara at 10 am followed by Audi and Las Monjitas at noon.