By Alex Webbe
The semifinals of the 2009 C. V. Whitney Cup were set on Sunday afternoon with wins by Audi and Lechuza Caracas in the first 26-goal tournament of the season at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
It took a sudden-death overtime goal from Lechuza 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero to fend off Orchard Hill in a hard fought 14-13 game.
Lechuza depended on Sapo Caset’s five first half goals to take a 7-4 lead over Orchard Hill, but couldn’t supply the defense in the waning minutes of the sixth chukker to protect the lead.
Caset and Nero scored single goals in the fourth chukker for Lechuza, but Orchard Hill’s Pablo MacDonough converted two penalty shots and Lucas Criado added a single goal. Lechuza held on to the lead, but Orchard Hill cut it to two goals, 9-7.
The teams traded goals in the fourth period with MacDonough adding two more penalty goals for Orchard Hill while Lechuza’s Caset added two goals from the field. Lechuza held the lead, 11-9.
Orchard Hill rallied in the sixth chukker with two goals from MacDonough and single goals from Hector Galindo and Lucas Criado. Lechuza was held to two penalty goals from Caset, and the game was tied at 13-13 at the end of regulation play.
Following a 10-minute intermission, Lechuza put immediate pressure on the Orchard Hill goal. Scoring his third goal of the game, Nero iced the game for Lechuza Caracas, 14-13.
Caset led all scoring with ten goals. Nero scored three times and Lechuza captain Victor Vargas added a single goal for the win.
Orchard Hill 10-goaler MacDonough led his team with eight goals. Galindo scored three times and Criado added two goals in a losing effort.
The Lechuza win pits it against Pony Express in Wednesday’s 3pm semifinal match.
AUDI 11, WHITE BIRCH 10
In the feature match of the day, Audi relied on a balanced attack to knock White Birch out of the C. V. Whitney Cup on the strength of an 11-10 win.
White Birch took an early 3-2 lead after the opening chukker of play, but Audi came back to score five goals in the next two chukkers while holding White Birch to two penalty goals and a goal from the field. Audi left the field with a 7-6 lead and a newfound confidence against a tough competitor.
Two fourth chukker goals from Gonzalito Pieres and a single goal from brother Facundo Pieres were countered by a single scoring effort from White Birch’s Pancho Bensadon. Audi stretched its lead to three goals, 10-7 as the period ended.
Audi’s defense stiffened in the fifth chukker. Freddie Mannix’s second goal of the game gave Audi an 11-7 edge until Jeff Blake’s penalty shot cut the lead back to three goals, 11-8.
“We knew that they would make another run,” said Audi field captain Marc Ganzi, and they did.”
White Birch continued to put the pressure on in the final chukker but Audi was content to ride it out. Bensadon added a goal on a penalty shot and another from the field as the final horn sounded