Zacara and Coca-Cola remain
unbeaten; Piaget downs Goose Creek

By Alex Webbe

Zacara opened 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup action at the International Polo Club in Wellington
with a fast-paced 11-8 win over Crab Orchard in a contest that saw 10-goaler Facundo
Pieres score nine goals for the win.

Both teams took the field tenuously in the opening chukker, looking for strengths and
weaknesses in their opponents, with Crab Orchard striking first on a goal from Felipe
Viana about midway through the period. Facundo Pieres finally got Zacara on the
scoreboard with an impressive 120 yard shot with just under two minutes in the chukker
to close out the scoring. After one chukker the score was deadlocked at 1-1.

Crab Orchard got a leg up on Zacara in the second period with a pair of penalty goals
from Matias Magrini (one on a penalty conversion) and a goal from the field from
Mariano Aguerre. Hilario Ulloa answered back with a single goal for Zacara as they
trailed 4-2 after two periods of play.

The Zacara attack came alive in the third with Pieres scoring three goals from the field
and teammate Ulloa adding another as they tied it up at 6-6. Crab Orchard picked up
single goals from Aguerre (penalty conversion) and Magrini as the first half ended.

Defense was the priority in the fourth chukker with scoring at a minimum. Nearly five
minutes into the chukker, Pieres scored his fourth goal of the game to put Zacara in the
lead for the first time all morning. Magrini responded with a goal for Crab Orchard with
a minute left and the period ended with the score all even at 7-7.

Pieres and Magrini exchanged goals in the opening 90 seconds of the fifth chukker,
knotting the score at 8-8. With four minutes gone, Pieres carried the length of the field
for a goal to put Zacara back in the lead, 9-8. With a minute left in the period, Pieres
scored again and the chukker ended with Crab Orchard looking at a two goal deficit, 10-
8.

Crab Orchard struggled to get back into the game in the final chukker, but to no avail.
Superior defense set the tone for the Zacara team as they kept Crab Orchard from
scoring. A push shot into the Crab Orchard gal by Pieres ended the match with Zacara
registering their second straight win, 11-8.

Pieres led all scoring with nine goals (one on a penalty shot). Ulloa added two goals
for the win. Magrini set the pace for the Crab Orchard attack with five goals. Aguerre
scored twice and Viana recorded a single goal in the loss.

Coca-Cola kept their record perfect with a convincing 14-8 win over a shell-shocked
Port Mayaca foursome in the second Ylvisaker Cup match of the day at the International
Polo Club Sunday afternoon.

Port Mayaca received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal Coca-Cola team, but were
unable to score in the opening minutes of play. A Port Mayaca penalty in their own
goalmouth came just three minutes into the match, with Coca-Cola being awarded a
goal on a rare Penalty 1(for a foul in the vicinity of the goal to prevent the scoring of a
goal), 1-1. The following throw-in resulted in another foul against Port Mayaca, and in
the course of less than 30 seconds Coca-Cola had taken the lead, 2-1.

Port Mayaca executed a picture perfect play in the opening seconds of the second
period, with Robert Orthwein passing to Carlucho Arellano (Julio’s younger brother) who
passed it to Marianito Obregon for the score. The score was all even at 2-2, but that
would be Port Mayaca’s only reason to celebrate for the duration of the chukker. Julio
Arellano scored on a pass from Tommy Collingwood and converted a penalty shot for a
goal while a goal from team captain Gillian Johnston had Coca-Cola in the lead, 5-2 as
the horn sounded to end the period.

Julio Arellano added two more goals to the Coca-Cola total in the third while teammate
Sugar Erskine scored for the first time. Port Mayaca replied with a single goal from
Carlucho Arellano, and at the end of the first half Coca-Cola led, 8-3.

Julio Arellano and Gillian Johnston opened the second half with single goals from
the field, 10-3, before Port Mayaca could get on the scoreboard. A goal from Robert
Orthwein cut the lead to six goals, 10-4. Julio Arellano closed out the scoring with his
sixth goal of the day as Coca-Cola was running off with the game, 12-4.

A determined Robert Orthwein got Port Mayaca in the scoring column in the opening
minute of the fifth chukker, 12-5, but the day belonged to Coca-Cola. Consecutive
goals from Erskine and Tommy Collingwood went unanswered and Coca-Cola left the
field with a 14-5 lead and one chukker left to play.

Coca-Cola coasted through the final seven minutes of the game with Port Mayaca
registering single goals from Carlucho Arellano, Marianito Obregon and Robert
Orthwein. The final horn sounded with Coca-Cola celebrating a 14-8 win.

Julio Arellano was credited with six goals for Coca-Cola (two on penalty conversions).
Gillian Johnston scored three times while teammates Sugar Erskine and Tommy
Collingwood each scored two times. Robert Orthwein led the Port Mayaca attack with
three goals. Carlucho Arellano and Marianito Obregon scored two goals apiece and
Port Mayaca received one goal by handicap.

Piaget trailed throughout most of the game, but a last chukker rally led them to a 10-8
win over Goose Creek in Sunday’s feature Ylvisaker Cup match.

Tano Vial and Cote Zegers scored the opening goals of the match for a 2-0 lead.
Joaquin Panelo got Piaget on the scoreboard with a single goal and the first chukker
ended with Piaget trailing, 2-1.

Vial and Miguel Astrada exchanged goals in the second chukker with Vial opening
the chukker with a penalty conversion, 3-1. Astrada delivered a well-placed cut shot
through the goal posts in the final minute of play to end the period trailing Goose Creek,
3-2.

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Third chukker goals from Luis Escobar and Zegers extended the Goose Creek lead to
three goals, 5-2, but a penalty conversion by Astrada cut it back to a two goal lead, 5-3
to end the first half.

Astrada cut the lead so a single goal, 5-4, on a 90 yard shot through the goal posts, but
Goose Creek was up to the challenge. Maureen Brennan scored her first goal of the
game to give her Goose Creek team a 6-4 advantage with two periods left in regulation
time.

Astrada cut the Goose Creek lead back to a single goal on a backhand cut shot through
the goal posts in the opening minute of the fifth. He followed it up with a penalty
conversion that tied it at 6-6. His third goal of the chukker gave Piaget their first lead
of the game, 7-6, when Goose Creek finally responded. Vial’s third goal of the game
ended the chukker and tied it up at 7-7.

Piaget had struggled with the Goose Creek defense throughout the game, but seemed
to come alive in the second half, and Astrada credited the realignment of the team for
their success.

“We moved Bollini (Juan Bollini) forward in the second half and had Panelo playing a
bit further back in the lineup, and it worked,” said Astrada. “It allowed me more room
to operate in and with Bollini opening holes; we were able to break through the Goose

Creek defenders.”

The plan worked and Astrada went on to score three sixth chukker goals while Piaget
held Goose Creek to a single goal from Escobar in the 10-8 win.

Astrada led the scoring with nine goals on the day, including three penalty conversions,
and was named MVP. Panelo added a single goal. Vial recorded three goals for
Goose Creek (one on a penalty shot). Zegers and Escobar added two goals each and
team captain Maureen Brennan scored once kin a losing effort.

Astrada’s 8-year-old Bay gelding, Chaleco, was honored as Best Playing Pony.