Santi Torres with the bal-land on the run.
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Peke Gonzalez, Santi Torres and Sapo Caset) won the opening Ylvisaker Cup match of the day at the International Polo Club by defeating CT Energia (Alessandro Bazzoni, Kris Kampsen, Joao Ganon and Nick Manifold) 9-8, but it took an overtime chukker to do it.
With a reshuffled lineup that had fifteen-year-old Peke Gonzalez replacing the injured Robert Jornayvaz, Valiente went immediately on the attack. A disciplined CT Energia defense held them scoreless for the first three minutes of the game before a foul sent Santi Torres to the penalty line where he put the ball between the CT Energia goalposts from 60-yards out for a 1-0 lead. 10-goaler Sapo Caset followed it up with a 30-yard penalty conversion for the only other goal in the first chukker as Valiente left the field on top of a 2-0 score.
CT Energia fought back in the second period, scoring on a 40-yard penalty goal from Brazilian 7-goaler Joao Ganon, 2-1. Two minutes later a Valiente foul in the goal mouth had CT Energia being awarded a goal on a rarely called Penalty 1, 2-2. Caset converted a 60-yard Safety for a goal with 3:21 left in the period, 3-2. CT Energia answered back with a goal from the field from Nick Manifold with under a minute on the clock, 3-3.
Manifold opened the second chukker with another field goal that put CT Energia in the lead, 4-3, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. Goals from Torres and Peke Gonzalez tied the game at 4-4 and then pushed Valiente ahead, 5-4, respectively. Kris Kampsen leveled the score at 5-5 with his first goal of the day to end the first half.
Fourth chukker play was static as the play went up and down the field with neither team being able to hit the mark. With just 1:26 left in the period, Valiente became the beneficiary of a Penalty 1 that broke the tie and put them on top, 6-5. Gonzalez scored his second goal of the game with 29 seconds on the clock as Valiente stretched their lead to two goals, 7-5.
A resolute CT Energia team took the field in the fifth period and immediately pressured the Valiente defense. With little give by Valiente, CT Energia’s Manifold scored with two minutes left in the chukker, 7-6. Kampsen tied it, 7-7, with his second goal of the game with 23 seconds left in the chukker.
Sixteen seconds into the sixth chukker, Manifold’s fourth goal of the day gave the lead to CT Energia, 8-7, but Valiente fought back. A CT Energia foul awarded Caset a 40-yard penalty shot that he converted to deadlock it at 8-8. Despite a number of near goals, the horn sounded at the end of regulation play in an 8-8 tie, forcing a sudden-death overtime.
CT Energia got the first opportunity to end the game less than two minutes into the overtime period. A 60-yard penalty shot by CT Energia went wide, and the game played on. A costly foul by CT Energia with 3:33 on the clock sent Caset to the penalty line where he drained a 30-yard attempt for the winning goal, 9-8.
Caset led the Valiente attack with four penalty goals. Torres and Gonzalez added two goals apiece and the team received one goal on a Penalty 1. Manifold scored all four of his team-leading goals from the field. Kampsen accounted for two goals; Ganon converted a penalty shot and the team received one goal on a Penalty 1 as well.
The win boosts the Valiente record to 2-0 while Enigma stands at 1-1.
Casablanca 9, Tonkawa 8
Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Guille Aguero, Mark Tomlinson and Juan Bollini) gave up an early lead to Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalo Deltour, Inaki Laprida and Jeff Blake) in Ylvisaker Cup play but rebounded to record a 9-8 victory.
The 18-goal Casablanca lineup received two goals by handicap from Tonkawa, and quickly added to it. Consecutive goals from Guille Aguero had Casablanca in the lead, 4-0 in the opening chukker. Gonzalo Deltour scored on a 30-yard penalty shot and Inaki Laprida scored from the field, with Casablanca maintaining the early lead, 4-2.
England’s Mark Tomlinson made it 5-2 on a goal from the field to open the second period. Deltour scored on a 40-yard penalty shot for the only other goal of the chukker. Casablanca maintained their two goal advantage, 5-3.
The third chukker, however, belonged to Tonkawa. Casablanca fouls allowed Deltour to add two more 40-yard penalty goals, 5-5. Tonkawa team captain Jeff Hildebrand scored the go-ahead goal to end the first half with Casablanca trailing, 6-5.
A regrouped Casablanca team took the field in the fourth period and quickly turned the tables on Tonkawa. Shutout defense and single goals from Juan Bollini and Tomlinson had Casablanca in front, 7-6.
Tomlinson converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal in the fifth, with Tonkawa’s Deltour answering back with a field goal. Casablanca’s defense held firm as they continued to lead, 8-7.
Deltour scored on a short penalty shot for a Tonkawa goal, tying the game at 8-8, but it was to be Casablanca’s day. Team captain Grant Ganzi’s only goal of the game turned out to be the winner as Casablanca rode off the field with the hard-fought 9-8 win.
Deltour led the field with six goals on the day (five on penalty shots). Hildebrand and Laprida added single goals in the loss. Tomlinson led a balanced Casablanca attack with three goals; Aguero scored twice; Ganzi and Bollini added single goals and the team received two goals by handicap.
Casablanca remains undefeated at 1-0, but has an unfinished game with Gateway Merchant that has yet to be completed with Casablanca owning a one goal advantage with a chukker and-a-half left to be played. CT Energia falls to 0-2.
Villa Del Lago 12, Gateway Merchant 9
Villa Del Lago (Jim Zenni, Agustin Obregon, Polito Pieres and Julian de Lusarreta) evened their record at 1-1 following their 12-9 win over Gateway Merchant (Scott Swerdlin, Marianito Obregon, Matias Magrini and Mariano Gracida) Friday afternoon as Ylvisaker Cup action continued. The loss left Gateway Merchant winless at 1-1.
Polito Pieres took the opening throw-in and raced 150-yards down the field for the first score of the game with just 11 seconds off of the clock, 1-1 (the Gateway Merchant team received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal Villa Del Lago entry). Pieres scored the second goal of the game on a steal from Matias Magrini just 60-yards from the Gateway Merchant goal to make it 2-1. Marianito Obregon scored on a 30-yard penalty shot, 2-2, while Mariano Gracida scored to give the lead back to Gateway Merchant, 3-2. Villa Del Lago team captain, Jim Zenni, scored the tying goal, following a long run by Agustin Obregon and tapping it in for a 3-3 score.
Both defenses buckled down in the second with scoring coming at a premium. Marianito Obregon converted a penalty shot for a goal, and a 4-3 Gateway Merchant lead in the opening minutes of the game. Zenni leveled the score once again midway through the period, 4-4.
Marianito Obregon’s third penalty conversion of the match had Gateway Merchant in front, 5-4 in the opening seconds of the third chukker, but that would be the last of their offense in the period. Pieres tied the game less than a minute later with a goal from the field, 5-5. A penalty goal from Pieres at the 3:35 mark was followed by a closing goal from Julian de Lusarreta for the 7-5 halftime lead.
Villa Del Lago found their rhythm in the second half with Pieres opening with a pair of goals (one on a penalty shot) to put them in the lead by four goals, 9-5. Marianito Obregon cut the lead back to three goals, 9-6, but Pieres owned the field in the fourth. Another goal from the field from Pieres came at 2:52, with a Gateway Merchant foul allowing him then opportunity to convert a 60-yard shot that made it 11-6.
The two teams exchanged goals in a more defensively active fifth. De Lusarreta stretched the Villa Del Lago lead to six goals, 12-6. Matias Magrini finally answered for Gateway Merchant with a 40-yard penalty shot, cutting the Villa Del Lago lead back to five goals with one chukker remaining in regulation time.
Magrini added another 60-yad penalty goal in the final chukker with Marianito Obregon adding a final goal from the field in the 12-9 Villa Del Lago victory.
Pieres set the pace for Villa Del Lago with eight goals (three on penalty shots). Zenni and de Lusarreta scored two goals each for the win. Two of Marianito Obregon’s team-high five goals came from the field. Magrini added two penalty goals; Gracida scored once from the field and the team received one goal by handicap.
Coca-Cola 9, Lucchese 8, OT
In a game that was tied seven times and wasn’t decided until the final seconds of play, Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Mason Wroe) slipped past a previously Lucchese team (John Muse, Magoo Laprida, Nico Pieres and Andres Weisz), 9-8.
Lucchese’s Magoo Laprida scored the first goal of the game three minutes into the opening chukker but two goals from Sugar Erskine ended the period with Coca-Cola in the lead by a single goal, 2-1.
Julio Arellano extended the Coca-Cola lead to two goals, 3-1, with a goal in the second chukker. Laprida answered back with a goal from the field, 3-2, and Nico Pieres tied it at 3-3 on a penalty conversion. Erskine closed out the chukker with a last second shot that had Coca-Cola leading, 4-3.
Laprida scored the tying goal midway through the third chukker, 4-4. A great individual effort by Erskine scored a goal with just one second on the clock for a 5-4 halftime lead for Coca-Cola.
Pieres tied the game on a penalty shot, 5-5 in the opening minute of the fourth period. With 1:27 remaining in the period, Arellano executed a severe cut shot that gave the lead back to Coca-Cola, 6-5.
Lucchese and Coca-Cola traded goals in the fifth. Laprida tied it at 6-6 just two-and-one-half minutes into the chukker, 6-6. Mason Wroe gave the lead back to Coca-Cola on a shot from the field to end the period, 7-6.
Lucchese came out firing in the sixth. Andres Weisz, who was returning to the lineup for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury, opened with a goal from the field that tied it at 7-7. Weisz added a 60-yard penalty shot that put Lucchese in the lead, 8-7. Wroe tied it at 8-8 with 1:32 left in the chukker, forcing the second overtime match of the day.
After a brief recess to allow both teams regroup and organize fresh mounts for the overtime, Wroe took control of the ball and drove it down the field for Coca-Cola’s winning goal with just 31 seconds off of the clock.
Erskine scored four times for Coca-Cola. Wroe added three goals and Arellano scored twice for the win. Laprida set the pace for Lucchese with four goals. Pieres and Weisz each scored twice in the loss.
Ylvisaker Cup competition continues on Sunday, February 8thwith games at 10am, noon and 3pm. In the morning contest, CT Energia (0-2) will face Orchard Hill (1-0); at noon Audi (1-1) will play FlexJet (1-1); while the 3pm feature game pits Enigma (1-1) against Palm Beach Illustrated (0-1).