By Alex Webbe
Zacara (1-0) made an impressive debut on this season’s high-goal scene with a 14-8 win over Orchard Hill (0-1) in the 2009 USPA Piaget Gold Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington Sunday afternoon.
Orchard Hill 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough scored the first goal of the day, but the rest of the game belonged to Zacara. Jeff Hall scored two goals and Carlos Gracida gave Zacara a 3-1 lead after the first chukker, and that was just he beginning.
Hall racked up two more goals in the second chukker to give Zacara a 5-1 advantage and Gracida put the ball through the Orchard Hill goalposts four times in the third period for a seven-goal lead, 9-2. MacDonough’s penalty conversion accounted for Orchard Hill’s second goal of the first half.
“They are a very good team,” said MacDonough, “we had to play well the whole game, and we didn’t. It was just one of those days,” he added.
Orchard Hill showed some life in the fourth chukker with four unanswered goals as both Lucas Criado and MacDonough tallied twice, cutting the Zacara lead to three goals, 9-6, but it was a pace they couldn’t maintain.
Zacara came back in the fifth chukker with four consecutive goals to take a 13-6 lead and leave Orchard Hill gasping for air.
“When they came at us in the fourth (chukker), I thought they could very mount a comeback,” said Hall, “so we doubled our efforts in the fifth. We changed some of our game plans and made the necessary adjustments to keep the lead.”
Magoo Laprida’s second goal of the game in the final chukker gave Zacara a 14-6 lead, but Orchard Hill never quit. Managing single goals from MacDonough and Steve Van Andel, the lead was cut to 14-8 as the final bell sounded.
Zacara’s Hall and Gracida set the pace for the day with six goals apiece. Magoo Laprida added two goals in the win.
MacDonough scored five times for Orchard Hill. Lucas Criado added two goals and Van Andel scored once.
Pablo MacDonough’s six-year-old chestnut mare Sandalia was named Best Playing Pony while Zacara’s Jeff Hall was named MVP.
AUDI 12, PONY EXPRESS 11
The 2009 C. V. Whitney Cup championship Audi (1-0) team dug its way out of a 7-1 hole to salvage its first USPA Piaget Gold Cup win in a hard-fought 12-11 contest with a talent laden Pony Express (0-1) team earlier in the day.
Matias Magrini scored the first goal of the game and Pony Express team captain Bob Daniels made it 2-0 to end the chukker.
Magrini converted a penalty shot to open the second chukker before Gonzalito Pieres finally got Audi on the scoreboard, but Pony Express wasn’t through yet. Two more goals from the field from Magrini were complimented by two penalty conversions from Nick Roldan as the chukker ended with Pony Express ahead 7-1.
“We were not lining up well for the throw-ins,” said Gonzalito Pieres, we decided that we needed to keep the ball and control the play of the game,” he said.
Single goals from Gonzalito Pieres and brother Nicolas Pieres were complimented by shutout defense, but it was Pony Express who left the field after the first half with a commanding 7-3 lead.
“We played so badly in the first half that we knew we couldn’t play any worse in the second half,” said 10-goaler Facundo Pieres. “We decided to be much more aggressive in the second half, to take more chances,” he added.
Two goals from Facundo Pieres and a goal from Nicolas Pieres (another brother) gave Audi six goals after the fourth chukker while Pony Express was held to a single goal. Audi continued to trail 8-6.
The teams exchanged goals in the fifth chukker, with Pelon Sterling scoring twice from the field while Audi relied on single goals from Nicolas and Facundo Pieres.
Pony Express took a 10-8 lead into the final chukker as both teams continued to play at top speed up and down the center of the field.
A charge toward the Audi goal was reversed by a penalty call, and seconds later Roldan scored his third goal of the game to put Pony Express on top 11-8. That, however, was the end of the day for Pony Express.
Audi rallied with Facundo Pieres converting a penalty shot for a goal followed by a goal from the field from brother Gonzalito. Facundo crushed a 70-yard neck shot through the goal to tie it at 11-11. Moments later it was Gonzalito Pieres who scored the winning goal in the 12-11 Audi victory.
USPA Piaget Gold Cup play continues on Wednesday, March 18 with a 1pm contest between Black Watch (1-0) and Lechuza Caracas (1-0). A 3pm match will feature White Birch (0-1) and Las Monjitas (0-1).