Parity of the Ylvisaker Cup field evident in a pair of one goal victories Friday
One goal wins by Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Rodrigo Andrade, Gonzalito Pieres and Tommy Alberdi) over Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Juan Martin Nero and Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Nico Pieres) over CT Energia (Alessandro Bazzoni, Kris Kampsen, Joao Ganon and Nick Manifold) illustrated the parity of the field in the 2014 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club.
Lechuza Caracas scored the first three goals of the game as they established an early 3-2 lead over Tonkawa. A pair of goals from 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero opened the game followed by a goal from the field from team captain Victor Vargas that put them on top, 3-1. The Tonkawa attack continued to press, and as the result of penalties picked up two penalty goals from Gonzalito Pieres. After one chukker of play, Lechuza Caracas rode off with a narrow 3-2 edge.
Three more goals in the second period extended the Lechuza Caracas lead to two goals. Mariano Gracida took the opening throw-in in the second period and raced the 150-yards down field for a goal, 4-2. Vargas added a goal just a minute later, 5-3. Tonkawa staged a mini-rally and goat goals from Rodrigo Andrade and Pieres (penalty conversion) while Nero scored a goal from the field Lechuza Caracas. Tonkawa trailed by two goals as the final horn sounded, 6-4.
Pieres converted a 60-yard penalty shot to open the third, 6-5, in the opening 23 seconds of play. Nero responded with a 40-yard penalty shot for a score, 7-5. Tonkawa’s Andrade and Jeff Hildebrand closed out the first half with single goals for a 7-7 halftime tie.
Andrade and Nero exchanged goals in the fourth, 8-8. Pieres scored his fifth goal of the afternoon to put Tonkawa in the lead, 9-8.
The Lechuza Caracas defense stepped it up in the fifth, shutting down the high-powered Tonkawa attack. Nero scored the first goal of the chukker on the opening throw-in followed by another goal from the field in the final 16 seconds of the period. Lechuza Caracas left the field in control of 10-9 contest.
Once again Nero scored the opening goal of the sixth period for his Lechuza Caracas team, 11-9, while Pieres responded for Tonkawa. Pieres scored the first Tonkawa goal of the chukker to keep it close, 11-10. Pieres and Nero exchanged penalty goals, keeping Lechuza Caracas in the lead, 12-11. Pieres tied it up on a 60-yard penalty shot with 1:18 left on the clock. In a final rush at goal, Andrade wove his way through the defending Lechuza Caracas players to score the winning goal for Tonkawa with just 17 seconds left to play.
Nero led all scoring with nine goals (three penalty shots). Vargas scored twice and Mariano Gracida added goals.
AUDI 11, CT ENERGIA 10
In the second Ylvisaker Cup game of the day, Audi fell behind early, but rallied to register an 11-10 win over an impressive CT Energia effort.
CT Energia received one goal by handicap and added goals from Joao Ganon and Kris Kampsen to a 3-1 first chukker lead. Audi got a single goal from Nic Roldan as they tried to settle down their attack.
The two teams exchanged goals in the second chukker with CT Energia team captain Alessandro Bazzoni scoring three times for his team while Audi got three goals from Nic Roldan one on a 60-yard penalty shot). CT Energia continued to lead, 6-4.
Third chukker action had Roldan scoring to cut the CT Energia lead to a single goal, 6-5. A pair of penalty goals by Nico Pieres had Audi in the driver’s seat with a 7-6 advantage. Roldan and Bazzoni traded goals and Audi took the led, 8-7.
Both defenses were on their best in fourth chukker play as neither team got on the scoreboard. Audi continued to lead, 8-7 with two chukkers left in regulation time.
Ganon scored the tying goal from the field, 8-8, followed by a 60-yard penalty conversion from Roldan. Audi held on to the paper-thin lead, 9-8, with one chukker left to play.
In an effort to keep Audi from scoring, CT Energia committed a blatant foul that was converted into a goal from Kris Kampsen, 11-9. Kampsen scored the final goal on a penalty shot for the 11-10 winning score.
Roldan led the field with eight goals (three penalty shots). Two penalty goals from Nico Pieres and a penalty goal rounded first chukker play. Alessandro Bazzoni scored four of his team’s 10-goals. Kampsen scored three times; and the team received one goal by handicap. Ylvisaker Cup play continues on Saturday with three games to watch. At the end of the day Coca-Cola will meet Valiente at 10-am. Palm Beach Illustrated will face El Cabure in a noon meeting; while Las Monjitas/Heathcote plays Las Monjitas in an 11am game.
"Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly" 
Rabii Benadada
