Argentine 9-goaler Nico Pieres led the RH Polo attack with seven goals in an 11-9 win over La Bamba de Areco Monday afternoon at Brooks field in British Open competition. (Photo courtesy of Pololine)
There was nothing to lose as RH Polo (Ben Soleimani, Ali Paterson, Rodrigo Andrade and Nicolas Pieres) faced off against La Bamba de Areco (Jean Francois Decaux, Diego Cavanagh, Magoo Laprida and Rodrigo Rueda) Monday afternoon in their fourth and final preliminary round of play in the 2016 Jaeger Le Coultre Gold Cup for the British Open.
Both teams were saddled with disappointing 0-3 records despite flashes of top level play over the course of the tournament.
Brazilian 9-goaler Rodrigo Andrade scored the first goal of the day with RH Polo and La Bamba de Areco matching one another goal for goal in opening chukker play. Ali Paterson added the second goal to the RH Polo total with Magoo Laprida and Diego Cavanagh each scoring a goal for La Bamba de Areco in a 2-2 first chukker.
RH Polo took control of the game in the second period with Nico Pieres scoring once from the field and once on a penalty conversion. A solid RH Polo defense held La Bamba de Areco scoreless as they fell behind, 4-2.
Pieres added two more goals in the third with teammate Andrade scoring his second of the game. Laprida converted a penalty shot to keep La Bamba de Areco from getting shutout. RH Polo increased their lead to four goals, 7-3, to end the first half.
The scoring was muted in the fourth period with Cavanagh and Pieres each scoring a goal for their respective teams. The four goal RH Polo lead continued to hold in an 8-4 game.
Consecutive goals from Pieres and Andrade extended the RH Polo lead to six goals, 10-4 in the early minutes of the fifth period. Cavanagh and Rodrigo Rueda each scored for La Bamba de Areco with Pieres adding another goal from the field for RH Polo. With one period remaining in regulation play, RH Polo was riding a five goal lead, 11-6.
Cavanagh staged a one-man rally in the sixth chukker, scoring twice from the field and converting a 60-yard penalty shot. RH Polo was content to concentrate on defense and held on for the 11-9 victory.
Pieres led all scoring with seven goals. Andrade added three goals and Paterson was credited with a goal for the win. Six goals from Cavanagh set the pace for La Bamba de Areco. Laprida scored twice and Rueda chipped in a goal in the loss.
British Open play continues on Tuesday with Zacara (Tom Brody, Lyndon Lea, Lucas Monteverde and Pablo Macdonough) playing a critical game against Apes Hill (Tom Beim, Mark Tomlinson, Eduardo N. Astrada and Alec White) at 1pm (8am EST). Zacara enters the match with a 1-2 record while Apes Hill boasts two goals against a single loss. A Zacara win would increase their chances of making it into the quarterfinals while a loss would make that possibility much more difficult.
At 3pm (10am EST) Talandracas (Edouard Carmignac, Pablo Pieres, Tommy Beresford and Sapo Caset) plays the defending championship King Power Foxes (Top Srivaddhanaprabha, Hugo Lewis, Gonzalito Pieres and Facundo Pieres). King Power has already qualified for the quarterfinals with a 3-0 record while Talandracas (1-2) is in the same boat as Zacara.