Lechuza Caracas broke open a hotly-contested match with Piaget Saturday afternoon in 2013 Maserati U. S. Open competition at the International Polo Club in Wellington after team captain Melissa Ganzi was forced to retire from the game due to an injury in the opening minute of the fourth chukker. Piaget was trailing by a single goal at the time but ended up on the losing end of a 14-11 score.
Piaget came out with guns blazing in the opening chukker of play, scoring three times with no response from Lechuza Caracas. Piaget’s two 10-goalers accounted for all of the scoring in the first with Sapo scoring twice from the field and Miguel Novillo Astrada adding a single goal for an opening 3-0 lead.
Lechuza Caracas finally got on the scoreboard in the second period when 8-goaler Polito Pieres converted a penalty shot for a goal at the 5:55 mark. A minute later Lechuza Caracas 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero cut the Piaget lead to a single goal, 3-2 on a goal from the field. With three minutes left to play in the chukker, Caset received a pass from Nacho Badiola at midfield and carried the ball 150 yards down the field on a great individual effort and scored a goal, 4-2. A penalty goal from Pieres with 13 seconds on the clock ended the chukker with Piaget holding on to a narrow 4-3 advantage.
Lechuza Caracas tied it up at 4-4 just over a minute into the third period on a goal from the field from Pieres. A costly Lechuza Caracas foul sent Caset to the penalty line just 30 seconds later where he converted the shot for a goal and a 5-4 Piaget lead. Consecutive penalty goals from Pieres ended the first half with Lechuza Caracas in front, 6-5.
One minute and nine seconds into the second half, Piaget team captain Melissa Ganzi pulled up injured (believed to be pulled muscle inside her thigh) and was forced to retire from the game. Seventeen-year-old Wellington Central High School senior Lorenzo Merlotti was brought in to replace Ganzi and the game continued.
Pieres twice from the field and added a penalty goal while Piaget was limited to two penalty conversions for goals from Caset. At the end of the fourth chukker Lechuza Caracas led by two goals, 9-7.
Lechuza Caracas ran loose in the fifth period scoring three consecutive goals for a 12-7 advantage. A pair of goals from Nero and a goal from team captain Victor Vargas had Piaget trailing by five goals. Astrada put the ball through the Lechuza Caracas goalposts with 31 seconds left in the chukker, but Piaget continued to trail by a 12-8 score.
Two goals from Caset opened the sixth chukker (one from the field and one on a penalty shot) and brought Piaget with two goals of Lechuza Caracas, 12-10, when Vargas took control of the ball. Turning the ball away from the sideboards at a full gallop, Vargas brought it across in front of the goal where he drove it through for a score, 13-10. At the 2:39 mark of the final chukker Caset made an incredible shot from the sideboards that carried nearly 100 yards on an angel and rolled through the goalposts, 13-11, but little time was left. Pieres scored the final goal of the game at the 1:41 mark to give Lechuza Caracas the game, 14-11.
Polito scored six of his team high nine goals on penalty shots. Nero added three goals to the mix and Vargas was credited with two goals on the day. Caset set the pace for Piaget with nine goals (four on penalty shots). Astrada scored twice in a losing effort.
ALEGRIA 11, FARAWAY 7
Alegria closed out the day with an 11-7 Maserati U. S. Open win over Faraway in first round tournament play.
A tenuous opening chukker saw Nic Roldan score the first goal of the day for Faraway on a penalty conversion at the 6:11 mark. Alegria team captain Julian Mannix knotted it up at 1-1 with a goal from the field, and the two teams left the field at the end of the period deadlocked at 1-1.
A second penalty conversion by Roldan had Faraway ahead 2-1 just eight seconds into the second chukker, but that was where it started to come unraveled for Faraway. Four straight goals from Alegria (two from Hilario Ulloa and single penalty goals from Mariano Aguerre and Facundo Obregon) left Faraway in the rearview mirror as Alegria sped off with a 5-2 lead.
The third chukker belonged to Alegria once again. Shutout defense by Alegria and three goals from Obregon (two from the field and one on a penalty shot) had Faraway trailing by six goals at the end of the first half, 8-2.
A realigned Faraway team returned to the field in the fourth chukker and appeared up to the task. Aguerre and Julian Mannix scored single goals from the field while Matias Magrini kept Faraway from getting shutout for the second consecutive chukker by scoring a goal. Alegria had stretched its lead to seven goals, 10-3.
Faraway’s Santiago Chavanne and Alegria’s Aguerre traded goals in the fifth, but the new lineup was a marked improvement, as Faraway held their own for the first time since the opening chukker.
With Roldan playing the Back position, log drives and towering passes from the talented 8-goaler rained down on teammates in the sixth chukker. Magrini added another goal from the field while Roldan scored twice (once on a penalty shot). The Faraway defense held Alegria scoreless for the first time all day, but ended up on the short end of an 11-7 score. Although Faraway outscored Alegria 5-3 in the second half, it wasn’t enough to dig their way out of the first half deficit.
Roldan scored four times for Faraway with teammates Magrini adding a pair of goals and Chavanne accounting for a goal in the loss. A balanced Alegria attack had Obregon leading the way with four goals (two on penalty shots). Aguerre was credited with three goals while Mannix and Ulloa scored two goals apiece in the victory.