Audi’s Gonzalo Del Tour (red jersey) in a ride-off with Orchard Hill’s Santiago Chavanne.
(Photo by Alex Pacheco)
In hopes of returning to the winner’s circle, Audi (Marc Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade and Gonzalo Del Tour) returned three of its 2011 USPA Piaget Gold Cup winning players in Marc Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres and Rodrigo Andrade, and it paid off in the team’s opening Gold Cup match.
Battling back and forth with an Orchard Hill lineup (Steve Van Andel, Santiago Chavanne, Pablo MacDonough and Matias MacDonough) that had just competed in the final of the 26-goal C. V. Whitney Cup, Audi presented a stellar defensive performance that shut down the Orchard Hill attack in three of the game’s six chukkers, enroute to a 7-5 win.
In a guarded first chukker, Gonzalito Pieres scored the only goal of the chukker with just 2:15 left to play. Orchard Hill was unable to break through a stubborn Audi defense and trailed, 1-0.
Ten-goaler Pablo MacDonough got Orchard Hill on the scoreboard with a goal from the field less than two minutes into the second period, 1-1. Santi Chavanne gave Orchard Hill their only lead of the game with a goal at the 1:19 mark, but the lead was short-lived. Marc Ganzi scored in the final 22 seconds of the chukker to knot it up at 2-2.
Gonzalo Del Tour scored the opening goal of the third chukker, with Pablo MacDonough responding with a goal almost three-and-a-half minutes into the period. Still set in a defensive mode, there was no more scoring in the first half as it ended deadlocked at three goals apiece, 3-3.
Del Tour’s second goal of the game put Audi on top, 4-3, in the opening 90 seconds of the fourth. Orchard Hill attacks were pushed aside and the chukker ended with Orchard Hill being shutout for the second time in the match.
Audi managed just a single goal from the field from Pieres in the fifth, but it was more than enough. For the third time in the course of the game, Orchard Hill was unable to score. With one chukker left in regulation play, Audi held a two goal lead, 5-3.
Orchard Hill was unable to keep Audi off of the scoreboard in the sixth period. Rodrigo Andrade scored the first goal of the chukker in the opening 30 seconds, 6-3. Ganzi added his second goal of the game to make it 7-3 with 5:46 left in the game. Chavanne managed a goal from the field for Orchard Hill with 2:41 on the clock, and Pablo MacDonough scored a final goal in the waning seconds of play. Audi (1-0) rode off the field with a first round 7-5 win, with Orchard Hill (0-1) trying to figure out what happened.
Pablo MacDonough led the scoring on the day with just three goals. Chavanne added two goals in a losing effort. A balanced Audi attack had Ganzi, Pieres and Del Tour coming up with two goals apiece. Andrade added a single goal in the win.
USPA Piaget Gold Cup play continues on Sunday with Crab Orchard (George Rawlings, Magoo Laprida, Facundo Pieres and Matias Magrini) facing Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Nico Pieres, Juan Martin Nero and Nico Espain). Sunday’s 3pm contest will feature Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Adolfo Cambiaso), the recent winner of the C. V. Whitney Cup, and Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sebastian Merlos, Julio Arellano and Facundo Obregon).