Orchard Hill, San Saba Post Victories on First Day
of 2007 Stanford U.S. Open at International Polo Club Palm Beach
WELLINGTON, FL (March 30, 2007) – Eight-goaler Jeff Hall scored with 1:31 remaining to lift last year’s runner-up Orchard Hill past 2005 champion White Birch 10-9 in an opening-round game of the 2007 Stanford U.S. Open Championship Friday at International Polo Club Palm Beach.
In other Stanford U.S. Open action, San Saba scored four unanswered goals in the final chukker to rally past Laurence-Wallace/Paladin Rally 12-9.
Hall’s goal capped a comeback that saw Orchard Hill charge back from a 9-6 deficit midway through the fifth chukker, tying the game at 9-9 on Hector Galindo’s tap-in with 3:28 remaining.
White Birch missed a chance to take the lead when 9-goaler Lucas Monteverde missed a 60-yard safety with 2:19 remaining. Hall’s heroics came on the ensuing offensive series.
“I knew we had to score,” said Hall, who has been battling a head cold for the last four days. “I ran with the ball and hit it to the right of Peter (Brant) and I went past him on the left. Mariano (Aguerre) was stuck behind him and the goal was wide open for me.”
It was Orchard Hill’s only lead of the game as White Birch could not get a shot off to send the game into overtime.
“It was the only time we needed to lead but it’s not the way I like it,” said Hall. “It’s been eight or nine days since we played and it was hard to find our rhythm. A practice game is nothing like playing in a real game. They’re a tough team, they’re always tough.”
Lucas Criado had been a member of White Birch for the last three years before moving to Orchard Hill for the 2007 season.
“White Birch is really competitive, they’re one of the bigger teams in Palm Beach so if you beat them, you feel you have a chance,” said Criado, who was icing his left knee and right ankle after the game.
White Birch led by three goals twice in the game, the first time at 7-4 and the last time at 9-6, but could not stall Orchard Hill either time.
There were five stoppages of play of at least five minutes each for injuries.
Monteverde led White Birch with six goals while patron Peter Brant scored two goals and 10-goaler Mariano Aguerre added one goal. Ulysses Escapite did not score.
White Birch missed four 60-yard penalty shots and a 60-yard safety while Orchard Hill missed three 60-yard penalty shots.
San Saba used contributions from all four players in the final chukker to rally past Laurence-Wallace.
Seven-goaler Toto Collardin made a 5-yard penalty shot with 6:00 left to tie the game at 9-9, erasing Laurence-Wallace’s only lead.
Nine-goaler Paco de Narvaez converted a 30-yard penalty shot to put San Saba ahead 10-9 with 4:53 remaining. Nine-goaler Javier Novillo Astrada increased the margin to 11-9, taking a pass from patron Tommy Lee Jones, dribbling three times and knocking in a short forehand.
Novillo Astrada returned the favor to Jones, sailing a pass from midfield to him for an easy tap-in with 1:23 remaining.
“We changed our attitude in the sixth,” said Novillo Astrada. “We were going for it more, we kept pushing and we did more damage. We dominated the first three chukkers, or four, maybe, but in the fifth we had a bad chukker. We were playing too slowly.”
De Narvaez led San Saba (1-0) with six goals, including four penalty conversions, while Novillo Astrada finished with three goals, Collardin had two and Jones one.
“Tommy Lee’s goal was very important,” added Novillo Astrada, referring to the tiebreakers which can depend on goal differential. “They were desperate near the end and it was a big goal for us.”
Ten-goaler Agustin Merlos led Laurence-Wallace/Paladin Rally (0-1) with six goals while 9-goaler Mike Azzaro added three goals. Patron Elizabeth Iorio and Luis Escobar did not score.
Action continues Saturday in the Stanford U.S. Open with a doubleheader beginning at noon when pre-tournament favorite Crab Orchard, led by superstar 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, plays Black Watch, led by Facundo Pieres and Nacho Figueras. Pony Express, led by 9-goalers Carlos Gracida and Bautista Heguy, plays Jedi, featuring 9-goalers Juan Martin Nero and Pablo MacDonough.
The Stanford U.S. Open quarterfinals are scheduled for Sunday, April 15 with the semifinals set for Wednesday, April 18. The Stanford U.S. Open is the culmination of the ultra-competitive winter polo season and covers the first four Sundays in April. The final, on Sunday, April 22 at 3 p.m. on Stanford Field at International Polo Club, expects to draw more than 7,000 spectators.
Historically, the U.S. Open has always been the grand prize of polo in North America. It is one of only three tournaments played at the 26-goal echelon, the highest-rated tournament in the United States. The others are the C.V. Whitney Cup and USPA Piaget Gold Cup, both also played at International Polo Club.
The first U.S. Open title game was played in 1904 at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City where the Wanderers defeated the Freebooters 4 ½-3, the lowest scoring final in the history of the tournament.
The polo matches at International Polo Club are open to the public. General admission for the Sunday games at International Polo Club Palm Beach is $15 for adults and reserved lawn tickets are $40. Children under 3 enter for free. Tickets may be purchased at the gate on the day of the game.
International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road in Wellington. For information, directions or ticket purchases, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit the website at www.internationalpoloclub.com.
Standings
Division I
Team W-L GF GA
San Saba 1-0 12 9
Millarville 0-0 0 0
Laurence-Wallace 0-1 9 12
Division II
Team W-L GF GA
Orchard Hill 1-0 10 9
Bendabout 0-0 0 0
White Birch 0-1 9 10
Division III
Team W-L GF GA
Skeeterville 0-0 0 0
Catamount 0-0 0 0
Las Monjitas 0-0 0 0
Lechuza Caracas 0-0 0 0
Division IV
Team W-L GF GA
Pony Express 0-0 0 0
Jedi 0-0 0 0
Black Watch 0-0 0 0
Crab Orchard 0-0 0 0
Friday’s results
Orchard Hill 10, White Birch 9
San Saba 12, Laurence-Wallace/Paladin Rally 9
Saturday’s schedule
Black Watch vs. Crab Orchard, noon
Pony Express vs. Jedi, 3 p.m.
Sunday’s schedule
Skeeterville vs. Catamount, 10 a.m.
Las Monjitas vs. Lechuza Caracas, 3 p.m.