Orchard Hill (L to R)-Duillio Diaz, Facundo Pieres, Lucas Criado and Nico Escobar celebrate their Sunday win in Ylvisaker Cup play. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
After a 2-1 first chukker lead, Orchard Hill (Duillio Diaz, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Nico Escobar) trailed for much of the game before a fifth chukker rally by Valiente II (Todd Thurston, Matias Torres Zavaleta, Diego Cavanagh and Joaquin Panelo) gave them an 8-6 lead, allowing them to register a 9-8 win and remain undefeated.
Lucas Criado got the ball rolling for Orchard Hill scoring the first goal of the game on a well-executed neck-shot and following up with a belly-shot moments later, 2-0. Diego Cavanagh scored the final goal of the chukker on a 60-yard penalty conversion. The early lead went to Orchard Hill, 2-1.
Facundo Pieres extended the Orchard Hill lead to two goals as the second period got underway. The Valiente II offense kicked into gear, however, and a goal from the field from Joaquin Panelo and a pair of penalty goals from Cavanagh had Orchard Hill trailing, 4-3, after the second.
Cavanagh pushed the Valiente II lead to two goals, 5-3 in third period action, but Orchard Hill fought back. A Valiente II foul sent Pieres to the penalty line where he converted a shot on goal from 40-yards out. The first half ended with Valiente II defending a one-goal lead, 5-4.
Goals continued to be scarce as the second half got started. Cavanagh drove a neck-shot through the Orchard Hill goalposts to make it 6-4. Pieres answered back for Orchard Hill by rocketing the ball through the Valiente II goalposts from over 60-yards out. Valiente II continued to lead, 6-5.
Orchard Hill needed a strong fifth chukker to stay in the game, and they got it. A goal from Criado and two scores from young Nico Escobar went unanswered as Orchard Hill claimed the advantage going into the final chukker of play, 8-6.
Cavanagh cut the Orchard Hill lead back to a single goal, 8-7, with a 60-yard penalty conversion in the sixth chukker, but Escobar was on fire. Scooping the ball out of a throw-in deep in the Orchard Hill end of the field, Escobar raced 280-yards down the field to score his third goal of the game and stretch the lead back to two goals, 9-7. The final goal of the match went to Matias Torres Zavaleta on a 30-yard penalty shot, but it was Orchard Hill celebrating the 9-8 victory and an unblemished 3-0 record. Valiente II suffered their first loss of the tournament and fell to 2-1. Escobar, Criado and Pieres scored three goals apiece for the win. Cavanagh led the field in scoring with six goals (three on penalty conversions). Panelo and Zavaleta each scored a goal in a losing effort.
Valiente I 10, Grand Champions 9
Earlier in the day Valiente I (Bob Jornayvaz, Felipe Viana, Adolfo Cambiaso and Toro Ruiz) broke open a 3-3 second chukker tie to edge Grand Champions Polo Club (Grant Ganzi, Inaki Laprida, Nic Roldan and Juancito Bollini) in third round Ylvisaker Cup action.
Argentine 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso led all scoring with seven goals (three on penalty conversions). Felipe Viana, Toro Ruiz and team captain Bob Jornayvaz each scored a goal for the win, improving their record to 2-1. Grand Champions got six goals from Nic Roldan and single goals from Grant Ganzi and Inaki Laprida. The team also received one goal on a Penalty 1, but came up short and fell to 1-2.
Mt. Brilliant 9, Goose Creek 8
In the morning contest, Mt. Brilliant (Bo Goodman, Jason Crowder, Santiago Chavanne and Julian Daniels) recorded their first win of the tournament, 9-8, at the expense of Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Peke Gonzalez, Mariano Gonzalez and Tomas Garcia del Rio) behind a three-goal sixth chukker rally.
The score was all even at 4-4 at the end of the first half and had Goose Creek moving out to an 8-6 lead after the fifth. Julian Daniels cut the Goose Creek back to a single goal, 8-7, with his first goal of the day. Jason Crowder added two more goals from the field while a vigilant defense held Goose Creek scoreless in the final period of play. Mt. Brilliant improved their record to 1-2 while Goose Creek remained winless at 0-3.
Ylvisaker Cup action is scheduled to continue on Monday, February 6th with two games on tap at the International Polo club. At 10am, Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Mariano Aguerre and Kris Kampsen) will put its 2-0 record on the line against 0-2 Travieso (Tony Calle, Hugo Barabucci, Sebastian Merlos and Marquitos Alberdi). At 3pm, Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Sapo Caset, Costi Caset and Facundo Obregon) will battle La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Jeff Hall, Mike Azzaro and Gringo Colombres). Both teams will be riding onto the field with identical 1-1 records making the outcome significant for playoff consideration.