Wins for Coke, Villa del Lago and Valiente in Ylvisaker Cup action

By Alex Webbe

Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Steve Krueger) struggled with a talented White Birch lineup (Tomas Alberdi, Ezequiel Ferrario, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant) Sunday afternoon in Ylvisaker Cup play at the International Polo Club, hanging on to a 6-5 halftime lead before a strong finish gave carried them to a 12-8 victory.

Coca-Cola’s Julio Arellano converted a 40-yard penalty shot for the first goal of the game. Ezequiel Ferrario countered for White Birch with a 60-yard penalty goal that evened the score at 1-1. Steve Krueger gave the lead back to Coca-Cola two minutes later on a goal from the field, 2-1. White Birch team captain Peter Brant scored the final goal of the chukker that had t even at 2-2.

There were races up and down the field but scoring was a problem for both teams. Arellano missed a 30-yard penalty shot and had an ensuing 60-yard shot on goal blocked. Krueger was on the spot, however, and pushed the ball across the goal line for the only score of the chukker and a 3-2 lead.

Sugar Erskine scored on consecutive 30-yard penalty shots as Coca-Cola extended their lead to three goals, 5-2. Mariano Aguerre countered with a goal from the field at the 4:08 mark followed by a 90-yard shot from the field for a goal from Tommy Alberdi that cut the Coca-Cola lead to a single goal, 5-4. Erskine scored his third goal of the game with 2:25 left in the chukker as Coca-Cola edged in front by two goals 6-4. Ferrario scored the final goal of the first half with 28 seconds on the clock. Coca-Cola left the field with a fragile 6-5 advantage.

Coca-Cola raced onto the field in the fourth period, picking up a quick goal from Krueger and a 30-yard penalty goal from Erskine, 8-5. Ferrario converted a penalty shot for a goal for the final goal of the chukker. White Birch continued to trail, 8-6.

Goals from Erskine and Gillian Johnston opened the scoring in the fifth chukker, extending the Coca-Cola lead to four goals, 10-6. Ferrario responded with a goal for White Birch that ended the period with Coca-Cola in front by three goals, 10-7.

White Birch fought to get back into the game in the final chukker, but nothing was working for them. A disciplined Coca-Cola attack put two more goals on the scoreboard that stretched the lead to five goals, 12-7. Ferrario scored the final goal of the game for White Birch but it was Coca-Cola with the 12-4 victory.

Erskine scored a game-high six goals (three on penalty conversions). Krueger added three more goals and was named MVP for his efforts on both offense and defense. Arellano scored twice and Johnston was credited with a goal for the win. Ferrario’s five goals set the pace for White birch. Alberdi, Aguerre and Brant each scored once in a losing effort.

Villa del Lago 12, Audi/Millarville 9

Villa del Lago (Jim Zenni, Guille Aguero, Hilario Ulloa and Agustin Obregon) bounced back from Tuesday’s 11-9 loss to Enigma by downing Audi/Millarville (Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Julian Mannix and Freddie Mannix), 12-9, earlier in the day.

Villa del Lago scored the first two goals of the match with a goal from the field from Guille Aguero and a 40-yard penalty conversion from Hilario Ulloa. Nic Roldan got Audi/Millarville on the scoreboard with a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal with 50 seconds on the clock. The early lead belonged to Villa del Lago, 2-1.

Villa del Lago continued to outscore Audi/Millarville as they put up three more goals in the second chukker. A pair of goals from Ulloa were followed by a goal from the field from Fred Mannix. 4-2. Ulloa and Julian Mannix traded goals at the end of the chukker, but Vila del Lago rode off the field with a 5-3 advantage.

Audi/Millarville returned to the field for the third chukker refreshed and refocused. An opening penalty conversion by Roldan was followed by a pair of goals from Grant Ganzi that tied the game at 5-5 before giving Audi/Millarville their first lead of the game, 6-5. Julian Mannix stretched the lead to two goals, 7-5, with his third score of the day. Ulloa scored the final goal of the first half from the field. Audi/Millarville rode off with 7-6 halftime lead.

A determined Villa del Lago team took the field in the fourth chukker and quickly went to work. Ulloa scored the first two goals of the chukker, tying the game at 7-7 with the first and giving the lead back to Villa del Lago, 8-7, with his second. Teammate Agustin Obregon made it 9-7 with his first goal of the day and Ulloa ended the scoring in the period to put Villa del Lago ahead by three goals, 10-7.

Both defenses clamped down in the fifth. Grant Ganzi scored the only goal of the chukker, cutting the Villa del Lago lead back to two goals, 10-8, but too much time had passed as Audi/Millarville struggled to get back into the game.

A Villa del Lago foul sent Roldan to the penalty line with 6:25 left in regulation time where he converted the 40-yard shot for a goal, 11-9 when the Villa del Lago clamped down. For the balance of the chukker the Audi/Millarville offense was shut down. Ulloa scored the final goal of the game with Villa del Lago celebrating the 12-9 win.

Ulloa was credited with nine goals (one on a penalty conversion). Aguero added two goals and Obregon scored once. Mannix, Roldan and Ganzi each scored three goals in the loss. The Villa del Lago record improves to 1-1 while Audi/Millarville falls to 0-2.

Valiente 13, Enigma 12

Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Tommy Beresford, Felipe Viana and Adolfo Cambiaso) looked like world-beaters in the opening minutes of the morning’s Ylvisaker Cup game at the International Polo Club. Consecutive goals from the field from Tommy Beresford and a 30-yard penalty goal from Adolfo Cambiaso had them up 3-0 with a struggling Enigma defense fighting to come up with an answer.

Second period play saw Matias MacDonough score the team’s first goal of the contest followed by a penalty conversion from Carlucho Arellano, 3-2. Cambiaso responded with a goal on a 60-yard penalty shot for a 4-2 Arellano scored the final goal of the chukker on a high, lofted shot at goal that crossed the goal line at the sound of the final horn, 4-3.

Jeff Hall scored his first goal of the game at the 5:19 mark, tying the score at 4-4. A goal from Enigma team captain, Jerome Wirth, had Valiente trailing, 5-4. Felipe Viana carried the ball through the Enigma goalposts, bouncing it in the air as he did, and tying it again at 5-5. MacDonough scored the final goal of the period with 2:53 left in the first half and Enigma left the field with the 6-5 halftime lead.

Arellano opened the fourth chukker with a 30-yard penalty goal, 7-5, and added a goal from the field at 4:43 to make it 8-5. Wirth’s second goal of the day had Enigma on top, 9-5. Beresford ended the chukker with a well-executed neck-shot that left Enigma in the lead, 9-6.

Viana turned heads in fifth chukker action when he made a dramatic save on the goal line and then raced the length of the field for a score that cut the Enigma lead to two goals, 9-7. Cambiaso added a goal that had Valiente breathing down the necks of the Enigma players, 9-8. Arellano and Viana exchanged 30-yard penalty shots for goals, 10-9, before a shot from Cambiaso from midfield carried through the Enigma goal posts for the goal to tie it up at 10-10 with only 54 seconds showing on the game clock.

Beresford’s fourth goal of the game gave Valiente the lead, 11-10A nearside tail shot from MacDonough tied the score again, 11-11. Viana gave his team the go-ahead with 2:22 on the game clock, 12-12. Arellano countered with a 60-ayrd penalty shot that tied the game at 12-12 and forced the sudden-death overtime.

After a brief recess allowing the players to find fresh mounts, the game continued. Both Enigma and Valiente had shots at goal before it was scooped up by Cambiaso who raced over 250-yards down the field to score the winning goal, 13-12.

Cambiaso led the Valiente attack with five goals (three from the field). Viana and Beresford each scored four times. Enigma’s Arellano led the field in scoring with six goals (four on penalty shots). MacDonough added three goals; Wirth scored twice and Hall added a goal in the loss.

The win keeps Valiente as one of only two teams in the Ylvisaker Cup tournament with an undefeated record (2-0). Enigma falls to 1-1.

Ylvisaker Cup play is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, February 16^th with a 2pm game between Palm Bach Illustrated (1-1) and Horseware/5Star/Tackeria (1-1), followed by a 3:30 game featuring Dubai (1-1) and Tonkawa (1-1).