Quarterfinals set for Ylvisaker Cup
By Alex Webbe
After one last day of preliminary competition and a shootout, he field is set for the quarterfinals of the 2014 Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club.
El Cabure (Scott Wood, Sugar Erskine, Agustin Merlos and Carlucho Arellano) defeated Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Nico Pieres) in a late afternoon shootout to earn a playoff spot, and will be joining seven others as the tournament boils down to the quarterfinals.
All four quarterfinals will take place on Sunday, February 16th, with Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Marcos Alberdi) facing El Cabure (Scott Wood, Sugar Erskine, Agustin Merlos and Carlucho Arellano) at 10am; noon games featuring Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Juan Martin Nero and Martin Espain) against Los Machitos/Heathcote (Steve Lefkowitz, Sterling Giannico, Hilario Ulloa and Matias Magrini) and Palm Beach Illustrated (Jared Zenni, Tommy Collingwood, Magoo Laprida and Facundo Obregon) versus Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Tomas Garbarini). The final quarterfinal of the day will pit Villa Del Lago/Casablanca (Jim Zenni, Agustin Obregon, Polito Pieres and Inaki Laprida) against Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Geronimo Obregon, Eduardo Astrada and Alejandro Astrada).
Thursday action got underway with a morning game between Villa Del Lago and Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade and Tomas Alberdi) in a hotly contested match that saw Villa Del Lago/Casablanca manage a 10-9 victory after trailing 4-3 at the end of the first half.
Polito Pieres scored five of his game high eight goals in the second half as he lifted the Casa Del Lago/Casablanca team to the one goal victory.
Gonzalito Pieres and Rodrigo Andrade scored two goals apiece in the first half while all three Villa Del Lago/Casablanca goals came from Polito Pieres.
Tonkawa managed five more goals in the second half with Andrade and Gonzalito Pieres adding two more goals each and team captain Jeff Hildebrand scoring a goal in the final chukker.
Jim Zenni broke open the 7-7 tie in the sixth period as he took a pass from Inaki Laprida out of the throw-in and drove the ball through the goalposts from over 60-yards for the go-ahead goal, 8-7. Goals from Hildebrand and Andrade had Tonkawa in the lead at the 5:22 mark, but a pair of penalty conversions from Polito Pieres closed out the chukker and the game with Villa Del Lago/Casablanca registering the 10-9 victory.
LECHUZA CARACAS 10, FLIGHT OPTIONS 4
In an operation that should have been grounded Lechuza Caracas scored a commanding 10-4 win over Flight Options (Melissa Ganzi, Fred Mannix, Miguel Astrada and Juan Bollini) were taken to the woodshed as Lechuza Caracas rolled over them in a 10-4 romp.
Lechuza Caracas rode out to a 6-3 halftime score on the strength of four goals by Argentine 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero.
Solid defense held Flight Options to a single goal in the following three chukkers as every member of the Lechuza Caracas lineup got on the scoreboard.
Nero led the Lechuza attack with five goals. Miguel Astrada scored all four of the Flight Options goals (three on penalty shots).
ORCHARD HILL 16, FARAWAY 10
In the final match of the day Facundo Pieres showed why he is considered one of the top two players in the game today as he scored eleven goals in leading his Orchard Hill teammates to a 16-10 win against Faraway (Htton Goodman, Martin Pepa, Santiago Chavanne and Mariano Gonzalez).
Orchard Hill never trailed despite heroic efforts by the entire Faraway lineup. Pieres scored four first chukker goals and Lucas Criado added another as they flew out to an early 5-1 lead (Mariano Gonzalez scored the only Faraway goal on a penalty conversion.
Faraway trailed 7-2 after the second but added four goals in the third (three from Chavanne and one from Hutton Goodman) while limiting Orchard Hill to a single goal from Pieres. At the end of the first half Orchard Hill was in possession of an 8-6 advantage.
Criado and Pieres added two more goals apiece in the fourth as Orchard Hill extended its lead to five goals, 12-7. Fifth chukker goals from Criado and Marcos Alberdi were countered by a single goal from Faraway’s Gonzalez. With one chukker left to play Orchard Hill was on the winning end of a 14-8 score.
Faraway and Orchard Hill each managed two goals with both Criado and Facundo Pieres adding a pair. Santiago Chavanne led the Faraway attack with six goals,
Tournament quarterfinals are slated to be played on Sunday, February 16 at the International Polo Club in Wellington.
"Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly" 
Rabii Benadada
