Caption: L to R-Orchard Hill 10-goaler Facundo Pieres being chased by Palm Beach Illustrated’s Facundo Obregon in Ylvisaker Cup action at the International POlo Club. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalo Deltour, Sebastian Merlos and Mason Wroe) got the ball rolling in the opening match of the day in the second round of play in the 2016 Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club with a rousing 17-11 win over Horseware/5 Star Builders (Matt Coppola, Hugo Lloret, Mike Azzaro and Brad Mallett).
Mason Wroe scored the first goal of the game with a shot from the field just a minute into the opening chukker followed by a 30-yard penalty conversion by teammate Gonzalo Deltour, 2-0. Sebastian Merlos scored back-to-back goals over the course of one minute, giving Tonkawa a 4-0 lead with three minutes left in the period. Deltour converted a penalty shot from 60-yards out and Merlos added his third goal of the game. Horseware/5Star/Tackeria was unable to coordinate any effective attack and trailed by six goals after the first seven-and-a-half minutes of play.
Mike Azzaro finally got Horseware/5Star/Tackeria on the scoreboard in the opening 32 seconds of the second chukker, 6-1. Hugo Lloret added to it with a goal as the Horseware/5Star/Tackeria team rallied, 6-2. South African 5-goaler Brad Mallet made it 6-3 and Azzaro scored on a penalty shot from the 40-yard line to bring his team to within two goals of the lead, 6-4. Merlos stole the ball on the 30-yard line of Horseware/5Star/Tackeria and scored the final goal of the chukker for a three goal, 7-4 advantage.
Merlos opened the third period with a steal on a Horseware/5Star/Tackeria knock-in and stretched the Tonkawa lead to four goals, 8-4. Deltour added a goal from the field, 9-4, countered by a 40-yard penalty goal from Azzaro, 9-5. Deltour and Azzaro traded 30-yard penalty conversions to end the first half with Tonkawa on top of a 10-6 score.
Merlos added two more goals from the field in fourth chukker action to extend the Tonkawa lead to six goals, 12-6. A 30-yard penalty conversion from Azzaro closed out the scoring in the period with Tonkawa enjoying a five goal advantage, 12-7.
Deltour stretched the Tonkawa lead to six goals with a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal, and a goal from the field from Merlos had them in front by seven goals, 14-7. Azzaro made good on a 40-yard penalty shot and Matt Coppola scored his first goal of the game with 19 seconds on the clock to end the chukker trailing Tonkawa, 14-9.
Coppola’s second goal of the game cut the Tonkawa led to four goals, 14-10 when their offense stirred again. Merlos scored his sixth goal of the game from the field followed by a 60-yard penalty conversion from teammate Deltour for a 16-10 lead. Brad Mallet scored his second goal of the day to trail by five goals, 16-11, but that was where it ended. Deltour scored the final goal of the match to give Tonkawa the 17-11 victory and even their record at 1-1. The loss was the first of the tournament for Horseware/5Star/Tackeria, 1-1.
Merlos led the field in scoring with nine goals from the field. Deltour added seven goals (five on penalty conversions) and Wroe scored once for the win. Azzaro scores five of his six goals on penalty shots. Mallett and Coppola each scored twice with Lloret added a goal in the loss.
Dubai 11, La Indiana 9
Later in the day, Dubai (Rashid Albwardy, Carlos Gracida, Diego Cavanagh and Alejo Taranco) rode out to a 3-1 first chukker lead before defeating La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Joao Paulo Ganon, Ruki Baillieu and Tommy Collingwood) 11-9 in Ylvisaker Cup competition.
After a scoreless opening two-and-a-half minutes of play, Carlitos Gracida gave Dubai the lead on a goal from the field. Joao Ganon tied the game at 1-1 with 3:40 left in the period. Goals from Alejo Taranco and Diego Cavanagh ended the first period with Dubai in the lead, 3-1.
After almost five minutes of scoreless play in the second chukker, Ruki Baillieu scored to cut the Dubai lead to a single goal, 3-2. Cavanagh gave the two goal led back to Dubai with a penalty goal at the 1:04 mark. Dubai continued to lead, 4-2.
Gracida scored his second goal of the day to stretch the Dubai lead to three goals, 5-2. Tommy Collingwood scored on a great individual effort, 5-3. Goals from Taranco and Ganon closed out the period with Dubai leaving the field at the end of the first half on top, 6-4.
Ganon converted a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal in the opening minute of the fourth period, 6-5. Cavanagh responded with his third goal of the game, 7-5. Ganon scored on a well-executed neck-shot with 2:20 on the clock to cut the Dubai lead back down to one goal, 7-6.
Cavanagh opened the fifth chukker by converting a 30-yard penalty shot to give Dubai a two goal lead, 8-6, and added another a minute later as Dubai raced out to a three goal led, 9-6. A goal from the field was Cavanagh’s third of the chukker as Dubai went up, 10-6. Collingwood kept the La Indiana hopes alive with a well-placed backhander for a goal, but Dubai and Cavanagh weren’t done yet. Cavanagh’s fourth goal of the chukker came on another 30-yard penalty shot that allowed Dubai to ride off the field with a four goal, 11-7 edge with one period left to play.
Ganon scored the final two goals of the game from the field. The first came on a nearside neck sot and the second on a run from the center of the field that cut the Dubai lead down to two goals, 11-9, but that was more than enough for the Dubai win.
Cavanagh was the game’s high scorer with seven goals (four on penalty shots). Teammates Taranco and Gracida scored two goals apiece for the victory. Ganon’s five goals led the La Indiana attack. Collingwood scored twice with Bickford and Baillieu scoring one goal each.
Orchard Hill 9, Palm Beach Illustrated/TechnoGym 5
It wasn’t the win they were looking for, but it was a win for Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Facundo Pieres, Peke Gonzalez and Lucas Criado) in the final Ylvisaker Cup game of the day as they recorded an 11-9 win over Palm Beach Illustrated/TechnoGym (Nacho Badiola, Jared Zenni, Facundo Obregon and Jesse Bray).
Palm Beach Illustrated was coming off a win in the final of the previous 20-goal tournament, the Joe Barry Memorial Cup, and took the field with a young and talented lineup. From the opening throw-in, Palm Beach Illustrated tried to slow the game down while Orchard Hill was looking to speed it up. The game remained scoreless until they were over five minutes into the match when sixteen-year-old Peke Gonzalez got Orchard Hill on the scoreboard, 1-0. Complimented by shutout defense, Lucas Criado scored the final goal of the chukker at the :48 second mark for the early lead, 2-0.
Scoring was muted in the second period with Facundo Pieres making it 3-0, Orchard Hill. Facundo Obregon finally got his team in the scoring column with a goal from the field, 3-1.
Nacho Badiola scored on a neck-shot toward the goal by Bray to make it 3-2. Orchard Hill team captain, Steve Van Andel, made it 4-2 followed by back-to-back goals from Pieres on penalty shots that ended the first half with Orchard Hill on top, 6-2.
The second half began with Criado scoring on a well-placed pass from Pieres, 7-2. Obregon converted a 30-yard penalty shot that cut the lead back to four goals, 7-3. Palm Beach Illustrated left the field trailing by four goals.
Pieres and Badiola traded a couple of penalty goals in the fifth. Orchard Hill retained their lead, 8-4 with one chukker remaining in regulation play.
In the final chukker of the day it was Pieres and Bray who each added a goal for their team’s victory.
Pieres scored five goals on the day, and led the field. Criado added two goals with Peke Gonzalez and Van Adel each adding a goal. Obregon and Bray scored two goals apiece for Dubai and Badiola added a goal in the loss.