Polito Pieres scores a record fourteen goals in Villa Del Lago/Casablanca win
By Alex Webbe
In one of the most exciting performances of the day, Polito Pieres scored fourteen times in leading Villa Del Lago/Casablanca (Jim Zenni, Agustin Obregon, Polito Pieres and Inaki Laprida) to a 15-13 win over Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Marcos Alberdi) in the 2014 Joe Barry Memorial Cup at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
Kicking off the day in a 10AM contest with a talented Orchard Hill foursome, Villa Del Lago/Casablanca scored first on a goal from the field from Polito Pieres in the first 30 seconds of play. Orchard Hill responded with a pair of penalty goals from 10-goaler Facundo Pieres, taking a 2-1 lead. Inaki Laprida scored the final goal of the chukker for Villa Del Lago/Casablanca for a 2-2 tie.
Action was fast and hard in second chukker action. Marcos Alberdi scored twice in the first two and-a-half minutes of play for a 4-2 Orchard Hill lead. Facundo Pieres answered with a goal at the 3:30 mark and again on a full length run with just 25 seconds to play to level the score again at 4-4.
Polito Pieres added two more goals in the first minute of the third to put Villa Del Lago/Casablanca on top, 6-4. Lucas Criado fired back with a goal for Orchard Hill, 6-5. Polito Pieres scored his sixth goal of the game, stretching the Villa Del Lago/Casablanca lead to two goals, 7-5, when Orchard Hill stormed back. Facundo Pieres tied it up at 7-7 with a penalty goal and a goal from the field. The first half ended in a 7-7 deadlock.
Facundo Pieres and Polito Pieres traded goals in the opening minute of the fourth chukker, 8-8, when Facundo Pieres went on a tear. Scoring twice from the field and converting to penalty shots for goals, Orchard Hill raced out to a 12-8 lead by the end of the period.
The fifth chukker belonged to Villa Del Lago/Casablanca, as Polito added three more goals. Orchard Hills only goal came from team captain Steve Van Andel. Orchard continued to lead, but Villa Del Lago/Casablanca cut the advantage down to two goals, 13-11.
Four goals from Polito Pieres (two from the field and two on penalty shots) were combined with shutout defense as Villa Del Lago/Casablanca rode off the field with a 15-13 victory.
Polito Pieres led all scoring with an incredible 14 goals (three on penalty shots). Laprida added a single goal in the win. Facundo Pieres scored nine times for Orchard Hill (five on penalty conversions). Alberdi added a pair of goals while Criado and Van Andel each scored a goal in a losing effort.
LOS MACHITOS/HEATHCOTE 10, EL CABURE 9
Federico Virasoro’s El Cabure team (Francisco Virasoro, Carlucho Arellano, Agustin Merlos and Stevie Orthwein) looked like world-beaters in the opening two chukkers of play as they ran up a 7-3 score on the Los Machitos/Heathcote team (Steve Lefkowitz, Matias Magrini, Mariano Aguerre and Sterling Giannico), but the Mariano Aguerre and Matias Magrini managed to turn it around as they rallied the team to a 10-9 come-from-behind win.
Matias Magrini scored the first goal of the game on a sort penalty conversion with Agustin Merlos respond in kind with a 40-yard penalty goal of his own just minutes later. Three more Merlos goals and a goal from Carlucho Arellano had El Cabure leading by four goals, 5-1, at the end of the opening chukker.
Merlos added two more goals from the field in the second, but Los Machitos/Heathcote kept pace with a goal from the field from Magrini and a Penalty 1, which awarded them a goal. El Cabure rode off the field after the second period with a four goal, 7-3 lead.
Both defenses stepped it up in the third, with a single goal from Aguerre accounting for the only scoring. El Cabure continued to lead at the end of the first half, 7-4.
The two teams traded goals in the fourth with Merlos and Arellano each scoring a goal for a 9-4 El Cabure lead before Los Machitos/Heathcote responded with goals from Aguerre and Sterling Giannico. The three goal El Cabure lead held, 9-6.
Fouls got El Cabure into trouble in the fifth as Magrini converted three times to tie the score at 9-9 and their offense was unable to get on the scoreboard.
With both teams struggling for control of the ball in the final chukker, it would be another penalty goal by Magrini that would prove to be the difference. With 3:38 left in the game Magrini converted a short penalty shot for the go-ahead goal, shutting out El Cabure for the balance of the game and claiming the 10-9 victory.
Merlos led the field in scoring with seven goals (three on penalty shots). Arellano added two goals in the loss. Five of Magrini’s six goals came on penalty shots. Aguerre scored twice and Giannico added a goal. Los Machitos/Heathcote also received a penalty goal.
VALIENTE 9, LAS MONJITAS 8
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Roberto Zedda) scored a 9-8 win over Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Geronimo, Eduardo Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) in Sunday’s feature stadium game in Joe Barry Memorial Cup competition, but needed to rally from a two goal deficit in the final chukker to do so.
Alejandro Astrada and Sapo Caset exchanged penalty goals in the opening chukker for a 1-1 tie.
Consecutive goals from Caset in the second (one on a 60-yard penalty conversion) had Valiente on top, 3-1. Alejandro Astrada scored the final goal of the period with 3:24 left on the clock. Valiente left the with a 3-2 advantage.
Camilo Bautista scored the only goal of the third period, and it came with just 28 seconds left in the chukker. At the end of the first half it was all even at 3-3.
The two teams traded goals in the fourth. Santi Torres and Caset (penalty goal) scored single goals for Valiente while Las Monjitas got goals from Bautista and Geronimo Obregon. The score remained tied, 5-5.
Las Monjitas picked up three fifth chukker goals with Alejandro Astrada scoring twice (one on a penalty shot) a d Obregon adding a goal for an 8-6 lead. Caset scored Valiente’s only goal of the period and trailed, 8-6.
The Valiente defense took Las Monjitas to task in the sixth chukker. Another goal from Caset and two well executed goals from Roberto Zedda proved to be the difference in Valiente’s 9-8 win.
Caset was credited with six goals on the day (three from the field). Zedda added two and Torres scored once in the victory. Alejandro Astrada led his team with four goals. Bautista and Obregon each scored twice in a losing effort.
COCA-COLA 13, PALM BEACH ILLUSTRATED 12
Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Jeff Hall, Julio Arellano and Nick Morrison) and Palm Beach Illustrated (Jared Zenni, Facundo Obregon, Magoo Laprida and Tommy Collingwood) battled to a 6-6 halftime score before a lackluster fourth chukker gave the game to Coca-Cola in a 13-12 squeaker.
“I really don’t know what happened in the fourth,” said the game’s high scorer, Facundo Obregon. “I think we just lost concentration.”
Coca-Cola got two first chukker goals from Julio Arellano and Jeff Hall while managed a single goal from Palm Beach Illustrated’s Jared Zenni. Coca-Cola took the early lead, 2-1.
The two teams matched one another in the second period with Hall and Arellano (penalty goal) each adding a score while Facundo Obregon scored once from the field and once on a 60-yard penalty shot. Coca-Cola continued to lead, 4-3.
An inspired third period saw Obregon add three more goals while Palm Beach Illustrated registered single goals from Hall (penalty conversion) and Gillian Johnston. The first half ended in a 6-6 tie.
Coca-Cola stormed onto the field in the fourth chukker with each member of the team scoring. Jeff Hall scored first followed by goals from Arellano, Johnston and Nick Morrison for a 10-6 advantage. Obregon scored the final goal of the chukker, but Coca-Cola had a firm 10-7 lead with two chukkers left in regulation time.
Fifth chukker goals from Obregon (penalty conversion) and Tommy Collingwood cut into the Coca-Cola lead, but a single goal from Arellano kept them on top of an 11-9 score.
Two sixth chukker goals from Magoo Laprida and a final goal from Obregon gave Palm Beach Illustrated twelve goals on the day, but Hall and Morrison each scored a goal in the sixth to give Coca-Cola the 13-12 win.
Obregon scored eight times for Palm Beach Illustrated. Laprida added two goals while Collingwood and Zenni each scored a goal. Hall’s five goals led the Coca-Cola attack. Arellano added four goals with Johnston and Morrison scoring two goals apiece.
"Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly" 
Rabii Benadada
