By Alex Webbe
Leading his team to a 9-6 lead with 3 minutes and 44 seconds left in the fifth chukker, Mike Azzaro, America’s highest rated polo player, suffered a fall that injured his right shoulder and will keep him from participating in Saturday’s international Westchester Cup match with England, and probably sideline him for the rest of the season.
Appearing in the semifinals of the 2009 Iglehart Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington, the dramatic on-field collision reminded spectators last week’s fatal polo accident on the Outback polo fields and cast a pallor over the crowd of polo devotees gathered along the sidelines.
Azzaro’s Lucchese team took control of the match from the onset, going up 2-0 after the first chukker of play and moving out to a 5-2 lead after the second period.
Patagones bounced back in the third chukker, scoring four goals, but a goal from Azzaro and Andres Weisz’s fifth goal of the game kept the Texas-based team ahead 6-5 at the end of the first half.
Patagones battled to get back into the game in the fourth chukker, but managed only a single goal from Carlos Gracida. Weisz answered for Lucchese with a goal and Patagones left the field trailing 7-6.
Shane Rice opened the scoring in the fifth chukker followed by a goal from Azzaro to give Lucchese a 9-6 lead when the accident happened.
With the hard-riding Azzaro racing down the field, an opposing player, Carlos Avendano, was boxed into his path. With no place to go, and no time to stop, Azzaro and horse went charging right over the top of horse and rider. Both horses and players went tumbling to the ground. Carlos Avendano and mount got up almost right away, not so for Azzaro.
The 9-goaler curled up in pain but conscious. An ambulance raced onto the field as his loose horse was corralled.
Initial assessment by the EMTs present was either a broken collarbone or a broken shoulder. His teammates sat quiet and stunned.
With Azzaro being loaded into an ambulance and taken to an area hospital, a replacement was found in the person of 8-goaler Nick Roldan.
Lucchese returned to the field without the confidence or enthusiasm that had carried them so well through the game. Carlos Gracida and Andres Weisz each converted penalty shots, and the fifth chukker ended with Lucchese on top 10-7.
Gonzalo Avendano opened the scoring for Patagones in the sixth chukker but was promptly answered by Weisz, but that would be the last bit of bravado from Lucchese.
Two more goals from Carlos Gracida cut the lead to a single goal, with Julio Gracida scoring the tying goal, 11-11, and forcing the game into sudden-death overtime.
Following a 10-minute intermission the teams returned to the field. Lucchese attempted to press the attack, but a revitalized Patagones foursome quickly took control. A long pass caught a galloping Julio Gracida who carried the ball over 120 yards and scored the winning overtime goal, 12-11.
“I thought we were in good shape,” said Lucchese team captain John Muse. “We had a rhythm going and we were working well together. You just hate for something like this to happen.”
The victory propels Patagones into Sunday’s final of the Iglehart Cup against a talented Lechuza Caracas team who had won its earlier semifinal game.
Carlos Gracida led Patagones with eight goals. Julio Gracida scored three times and Gonzalo Avendano added a goal for the win.
Andres Weisz scored eight times for Lucchese. Mike Azzaro added two goals and Shane Rice scored once.
LECHUZA CARACAS 11, AUDI 10 OT
In earlier play, Audi team that had breezed its way into the semifinals never seemed to get started as Lechuza Caracas flexed its muscles on its way to an 11-10 overtime win and a berth in Sundays 2009 Iglehart Cup finals.
Lechuza took an early 3-1 lead after the first chukker of play, but found themselves trailing 5-3 after the second. Audi 9-goaler Gonzalito Pieres added his second, third and fourth goals, and Brandon Phillips scored his first as the rode off with a 5-3 advantage while holding Lechuza scoreless.
Santiago Toccalino returned the favor in the third period, converting two penalty shots while team captain Victor Vargas added his second goal to edge Audi 6-5 at the half.
“We just couldn’t get any separation from them,” said Audi’s Brandon Phillips. “Every time we scored a goal to get a couple of goals ahead, they cam right back with a goal,” he added. “We just couldn’t shake them.”
Audi and Lechuza exchanged goals in the fourth period. Tomas Goti gave Lechuza a 7-5 lead before Pieres scored to keep Audi within a goal at 7-6.
The fifth chukker belonged to Audi as a determined defense shut out the aggressive Lechuza team. Single goals from Pieres and Juan Bollini gave the lead back to Audi, 8-7.
Nothing got settled in the sixth chukker as the teams alternated goals.
Pieres scored twice for Audi, but two goals from Toccalino and a single goal from Guille Aguero knotted the score at 10-10 as regulation time expired.
Audi had the first opportunity in overtime with Pieres missing a 60-yard penalty shot. Moments later it would be Santiago Toccalino who would convert a 60-yard penalty shot for the Lechuza win and a spot in Sunday’s Iglehart Cup final against Patagones.
Gonzalito Pieres led all scoring with eight goals. Brandon Phillips and Juan Bollini each scored a single goal.
Santiago Toccalino led Lechuza with six goals. Victor Vargas and Guille Aguero scored two goals apiece with Tomas Goti adding a single goal in the win.
SAN SABA 10, EFG BANK 8
In the second semifinal of the 2009 Herbie Pennell, a balanced San Saba attack derailed EFG Bank to score a 10-8 win and a place in /Sunday’s finals against Isla Carroll.
EFG Bank was in it until the fourth chukker when San Saba scored three unanswered goals and took an 8-4 lead.
EFG Bank continued to press, but San Saba maintained control of the game, registering a 10-8 win.
Sapo Caset scored four goals for San Saba. Carlucho Arellano scored three times and Toto Collardin scored twice. Team captain Tommy Lee Jones scored a single goal in the opening chukker of the game.
Luis Escobar led EFG Bank with six goals. Adam Snow scored twice in the loss.