Restoration Hardware Continues Strong Play to Open Silver Air Pacific Coast Open

Fresh off their victory in the Maserati of Santa Barbara USPA America Cup, Restoration Hardware has continued their strong play with two victories in the opening week of the 2018 Silver Air Pacific Coast Open. Led by the strong penalty shooting of Inaki Laprida, who has converted 11 of his 13 attempts to tie for the tournament lead with 13 goals, Restoration Hardware remains the team to beat entering the second week of play.

The opening game of the tournament saw Restoration Hardware defeat Farmers & Merchants Bank (FMB) 11-9, in a game that saw over half the goals come via the penalty line. After an even opening two chukkas, Restoration Hardware had their strongest chukka of the game in a dominant 3^rd chukka that saw them increase their lead to four, with Laprida and Von Wernich working effectively to score their team’s three goals while also limiting the FMB offense. After the third consecutive chukka of failing to score a field goal, FMB saw their deficit increase to five at the completion of the fifth chukka. Finding themselves in foul trouble throughout the game, 14 fouls committed by FMB resulted in perfect 6 for 6 shooting from Laprida that sealed the victory.

The second game of the opening day featured a slow, tightly marked game with Lucchese eventually getting the better of Klentner Ranch in the 10-8 victory. The evenly match affair saw the two teams within one goal of each other in the majority of the game, with the outcome in the second half being decided from the penalty line. A combined two field goals from the two teams in the final three chukkas kept the game close, but it was the pressure of the Lucchese attack towards the Klentner Ranch goal that produced more opportunities from the penalty line. Holding a slim 5-4 lead at halftime, Klentner Ranch committed 11 second half fouls as their lead disappeared behind the strong penalty shooting of Facundo Obregon. Despite shooting just 36% from the field, Lucchese were able to hold on for the two-goal victory thanks to perfect 6 for 6 penalty shooting and a strong second half performance from Obregon who would finish with seven goals in the game, including a sixth chukka field goal to secure the win.

After an opening round bye, Sol de Agosto made their debut in the tournament against FMB but found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard in the 11-9 loss. Failing to record a shot in two of the final three chukkas, Sol de Agosto were left on the defensive late in the game with Lucas Criado making his impact felt with three goals in the second half. For the second consecutive game, FMB found themselves in early foul trouble, conceding four first half penalty goals, but a strong third chukka that saw them score four goals, brought them back into a tie by halftime. Improving on their discipline, FMB only awarded Sol de Agosto with one penalty attempt which kept the game in open play where they proved to be superior. Led by Criado, FMB also received a strong performance from Nachi Viana who finished with three goals in the victory.

The last game of the opening week saw a rematch of last week’s final with Restoration Hardware once again getting the better of Lucchese by just one goal. With the teams tied after three of the six chukkas in the game, little separated the two teams, but it was Restoration Hardware that claimed the victory, despite scoring just one field goal in the second half. Another strong penalty shooting day for Laprida saw him convert 5 of his 7 attempts, but the key to victory may have been the offensive performance of Geronimo Obregon who scored five of his team’s six field goals in the game. Holding a 7-6 lead at halftime, Lucchese converted all three shot attempts in the second half but were unable to produce the opportunities that Restoration Hardware did due to 10 second half fouls. Tied at 10-10 after the fifth chukka, goals from Jeff Hall and Toly Ulloa looked to give Lucchese the edge but five fouls led to two penalty goals for Laprida along with a field goal from Geronimo Obregon that handed Restoration Hardware the narrow 13-12 victory.