(L to R)-Sixteen-year-old Nico Escobar chased by Valiente’s Felipe Viana in Wednesday’s Ylvisaker Cup action. Escobar scored four times as Orchard Hill upended Valiente, 14-8. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Veteran 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso opened the scoring in Wednesday afternoon’s Ylvisaker Cup game with a 30-yard penalty shot for Valiente I (Bob Jornayvaz, Felipe Viana, Adolfo Cambiaso and Toro Ruiz), but a pair of well-orchestrated goals from the field from sixteen-year-old Nico Escobar gave Orchard Hill (Nico Escobar, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Duillio Diaz) the early lead, 2-1.
Cambiaso tied the game in the opening minute of the second period on a 40-yard penalty shot, 2-2, when Orchard Hill took control of the game. Facundo Pieres scored his first goal of the day from the penalty line (30-yards) and added another from the field. Orchard Hill rode off the field at the end of the second chukker with a 4-2 advantage.
The pace was brisk and the action was non-stop as the top two rated players in the game today (Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres) demonstrated master stickwork and expert horsemanship as they raced from one end of the field to the other.
Pieres and Valiente 3-goaler Toro Ruiz exchanged goals in the opening minutes of the third chukker. Pieres converted a 40-yard penalty shot and Ruiz scored from the field, 5-3. Pieres added a 60-yard penalty goal to the Orchard Hill total, 6-3, and scored his third goal of the chukker two minutes later to extend the Orchard Hill lead to four goals, 7-3. Escobar broke away with the ball and raced down the field to score for the third time, 8-3. A short penalty goal from Felipe Viana ended the first half with Orchard Hill in charge of an 8-4 game.
Viana scored on a 30-yard penalty shot just 40-seconds into the fourth period, 8-5, but Orchard Hill fired back. A goal from Lucas Criado came at the 3:10 mark and Pieres snuck the ball over the Valiente goal line in the final second for a 10-5 edge.
Another Valiente foul sent Pieres to the penalty line with less than 30-seconds gone in the fifth. A 40-yard penalty conversion stretched the Orchard Hill lead to six goals, 11-5. Ruiz countered with a goal from the field, 11-6, and Viana added a 30-yard penalty goal to close out the period trailing by four goals, 11-7.
Valiente was hoping for a sixth chukker rally, but it wasn’t in the cards. Pieres opened with a 60-yard penalty goal and Criado added his second goal on the day, 13-7. Ruiz scored a goal for Valiente, but the rally wasn’t there. Escobar scored his fourth goal of the game for the 14-8 Orchard Hill win.
Pieres led all scoring with eight goals (four on penalty shots). Escobar was credited with four goals and Criado added two for the 14-8 win. Viana and Ruiz led the Valiente offense with three goals apiece (all three of Viana’s goals came on penalty shots). Cambiaso was limited to a pair of penalty goals in a losing effort. Orchard Hill improves to 2-0 while Valiente falls to 1-1.
Valiente II 11, Mt. Brilliant 10 OT
Earlier in the afternoon Mt. Brilliant (Bo Goodman, Jason Crowder, Santiago Chavanne and Julian Daniels) blew a 6-1 lead as they allowed Valiente II (Todd Thurston, Matias Torres Zavaleta, Diego Cavanagh and Joaquin Panelo) to get back into the game, tie it in the sixth and win it on an overtime penalty conversion from Matias Torres Zavaleta.
Zavaleta led the Valiente II attack with six goals (five on penalty shots). Jason Crowder scored four of his team-high five goals from the penalty line for Mt. Brilliant. The win boosts the Valiente II record to 2-0 while Mt. Brilliant suffered their second defeat in as many outings (0-2).
Grand Champions 12, Goose Creek 10
In the morning game, Grand Champions (Grant Ganzi, Inaki Laprida, Nic Roldan and Juancito Bollini) charged out to an 8-3 halftime lead over Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Peke Gonzalez, Mariano Gonzalez and Tomas Garcia del Rio) but needed three sixth chukker goals for a come-from-behind 12-10 win.
Nic Roldan scored four of his six goals on penalty shots while Goose Creek’s Tomas Garcia del Rio led the field with seven goals (five on penalty conversions) in the loss.
Grand Champions levels its record at 1-1 while Goose Creek remains winless, 0-2.
Ylvisaker Cup action continues on Thursday with two games on tap. At noon Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Sapo Caset, Costi Caset and Facundo Obregon) is scheduled to play Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Mariano Aguerre and Kris Kampsen), both teams are 1-0. At 3pm La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Jeff Hall, Mike Azzaro and Gringo Colombres) and Travieso (Tony Calle, Hugo Barabucci, Sebastian Merlos and Marquitos Alberdi) will be looking for their first wins (both are 0-1) as they face one another.