L to R-Orchard Hill 10-goaler Facundo Pieres with the ball, brother Nico Pieres (Lucchese) in pursuit in the semifinal of the 2016 USPA C. V. Whitney Cup at the International Polo Club. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Facundo Pieres scored the first goal of the game on a 40-yard penalty conversion in the opening 30 seconds of the game and from that point on Orchard Hill (Polito Pieres, Julian De Lussareta, Facundo Pieres and Benjamin Avendano) never trailed as the recorded a powerful 12-7 win over Lucchese (John Muse/Todd Thurston, Magoo Laprida, Nico Pieres and Sapo Caset) Wednesday afternoon in the first semifinal of the 2016 USPA C. V. Whitney Cup.
Facundo Pieres converted a 40-yard penalty shot in the opening 30 seconds of play to give Orchard Hill the early 1-0 lead. Ninety seconds later Sapo Caset tied it on a pass from teammate Nico Pieres to make it 1-1. Polito Pieres scored the final goal of the chukker from the field with 3:36 on the clock for the 2-1 edge.
Argentine 6-goaler Julian De Lussareta scored the opening goal of the second chukker to stretch the Orchard Hill lead to two goals, 3-1. Lucchese fought back with goals from Nico Pieres (brother of Facundo and cousin of Polito) and Sapo Caset to tie the game at 3-3. With two minutes on the clock, Polito Pieres scored on a well-placed pass from Facundo Pieres to take the lead, 4-3.
The two teams battled back and forth in the third chukker. Three minutes into the period Nico Pieres tied the game at 4-4 for Lucchese. Polito Pieres ended the first half with a goal from the field at the 2:20 mark and it was Orchard Hill with the 5-4 halftime lead.
Goals were hard to come by in a defensive fourth chukker. With just 1:33 left in the period Facundo Pieres converted a 30-yard penalty shot for a goal, 6-4. With just 47 seconds on the clock, Caset scored on a 90-yard shot from near the sideboards to cut the Orchard Hill lead back to a manageable one goal, 6-5.
Orchard Hill took control of the game in the fifth chukker on consecutive goals from Facundo Pieres. Scoring one on a 60-yard penalty conversion and adding another from the field, Facundo Pieres pushed Orchard Hill out to an 8-5, three goal lead. Caset fired back with a 30-yard penalty goal but consecutive goals from Facundo Pieres (60-yard penalty shot) and Polito Pieres ended the period with Orchard Hill sitting on top of a 10-6 score.
De Lussareta opened the scoring in the sixth and final chukker on a shot from the field that had Orchard Hill in the lead by five goals, 11-6. With 3:46 remaining in the chukker Facundo Pieres scored on a 60-yard penalty shot that had Lucchese doubled up and trailing, 12-6. Caset scored the final goal of the day on a 30-yard penalty conversion with Orchard Hill galloping off with the 12-7 win.
Facundo Pieres led the field with six goals, five on penalty shots. Polito Pieres scored four times and De Lussareta added two goals for the victory. Caset scored two of his five goals on penalty shots. Nico Pieres added the other two goals in the Lucchese loss. The win boosts Orchard Hill into the tournament final against the winner of Thursday’s 11am game between Audi (Marc Ganzi, Gonzalo Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade and Fred Mannix) and White Birch (Hilario Ulloa, Ezequiel Ferrario, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant).