Alegria, Lechuza and Coca-Cola win
opening C. V. Whitney Cup games

By Alex Webbe

Friday saw three more games take place at the International Polo Club in Wellington
in the 26-goal C. V. Whitney Cup with Alegria pummeling Piaget 14-6 in the morning
contest while Lechuza Caracas needed an overtime goal to defeat Orchard Hill 10-9. In
the final C. V. Whitney match of the day, Coca-Cola scored an 11-7 win over Audi.

Julian Mannix took the field for the first time this season at the International Polo Club
with his 26-goal Alegria team (Julian Mannix, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and
Facundo Obregon) and gave up one goal by handicap to the 25-goal Piaget entry
(Melissa Ganzi, Sapo Caset, Miguel Astrada and Juan Bollini).

Melissa Ganzi scored the first goal of the game on a pin-point pass from 10-goaler Sapo
Caset from the field. Caset showed great form as he added a first chukker goal of his
own, but three goals from Mannix were enough to draw Alegria even with Piaget at 3-3
after the opening period of play.

Mannix scored his third consecutive goal and fourth of the game to open the second
chukker, giving Alegria its first lead of the game, 4-3. Facundo Obregon and Caset
exchanged penalty goals followed by a goal from Alegria’s Hilario Ulloa. Two chukkers
into the game, Alegria had built a two goal lead, 6-4.

Third chukker goals from the field from Ulloa and Obregon had Alegria on top, 8-4, but
a late foul allowed Caset to convert a 60-yard penalty shot, cutting the Alegria lead to
three goals, 8-5 at the end of the first half.

Both defenses tightened in the fourth chukker, with Alegria shutting down a Piaget
offense that struggled to get out of their own half of the field. Ulloa scored the only goal
of the period, extending the Alegria lead to four goals, 9-5.

The fifth period found Piaget unable to find an answer to Alegria’s defense as they were
blanked for a second consecutive chukker. Mariano Aguerre scored his first goal of the
game and Obregon converted another penalty shot. Alegria rode off the field on top of
an 11-5 score with one chukker left to play.

Alegria rang up three straight goals in the final chukker of play, with Aguerre adding
his second of the day and Ulloa scoring back-to-back goals to take a commanding 14-
5 advantage. Melissa Ganzi scored Piaget’s final goal of the match, but it was Alegria

who celebrated the 14-6 victory.

Ulloa led the pack by scoring five times for Alegria. Mannix added four goals to the mix
with Obregon registering three goals and Aguerre accounting for a pair of goals in the
win. Caset scored two of his three goals for Piaget on penalty shots. Ganzi added two
goals from the field and the team received one goal by handicap.

LECHUZA CARACAS 10, ORCHARD HILL 9 OT

A realigned Lechuza Caracas team (Victor Vargas, Francisco Elizalde, Polito Pieres
and Juan Martin Nero) got all they could handle in Friday’s noon contest with an
invigorated Orchard Hill lineup (Steve Van Andel, Rodrigo Andrade, Pablo MacDonough
and Matias MacDonough) before scoring the winning goal in overtime for the 10-9 win.

Brazilian 8-goaler Rodrigo Andrade got Orchard Hill on the scoreboard first with a pair
of goals from the field to account for all of the first chukker scoring. After seven minutes
of play Orchard Hill owned a 2-0 lead.

Lechuza’s new 7-goaler, Francisco Elizalde opened the second with a goal from the
field followed by a penalty conversion from 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero for a 2-2 tie. A
closing goal from 10-goaler Pablo Macdonough had Orchard Hill holding a narrow lead,
3-2.

Third period action saw Lechuza’s Polito Pieres score his first goal of the day to knot it
up at 3-3. Steve Van Andel and Andrade scored consecutive goals to put Orchard Hill
ahead 5-3. Elizalde and Pieres closed out the chukker with a gal from the field and a
penalty goal, respectively. At the end of the first half it was all even at 5-5.

Lechuza took control of the game in the fourth chukker, picking up a 60-yard penalty
conversion from Pieres and Elizalde’s third goal of the game. Orchard Hill was unable
to produce any effective offense and fell behind, 7-5.

Fifth chukker action was limited to a single goal from Pablo MacDonough with Lechuza
getting shutout for the first time since the opening chukker. Lechuza continued to lead,
but the lead was shaved to a single goal, 7-6.

All holds were barred in the final chukker of the match with Pablo MacDonough tying it
up with the opening goal of the sixth, 7-7. Back-to-back goals from Elizalde stretched
the Lechuza lead to two goals, 9-7, with time running out. Pablo MacDonough scored
from the field and his brother, Matias MacDonough, converted a 60-yard penalty shot in
the final seconds of the chukker for a 9-9 deadlock and sudden death overtime.

After a brief recess both teams returned to the field. Initial movement took the ball into
the Orchard Hill end of the field where Elizalde scored the winning goal with his sixth
score of the day.

Elizalde led all scoring with six goals on the day, including the winner in overtime.
Pieres scored three times, twice on penalty shots and Nero added a gal for the win.
Pablo MacDonough and Andrade scored three goals each. Matias Macdonough scored
twice and Van Andel added a goal in the loss.

COCA-COLA ALL OVER AUDI IN 11-7 WIN

A determined Coca-Cola team scored the first three chukkers of the game in the
opening chukker for an early 3-0 lead as 7-goaler Sugar Erskine accounted for two of
the goals and team captain Gillian Johnston added a goal in the early goings.

Audi got back into the game in the second with Audi’s Nico Pieres and Coca-Cola 9-
goaler Julio Arellano exchanging penalty goals. Nico Pieres ended the scoring in the
chukker with an 80-yard scoring shot through the Coca-Cola goalposts. After two
periods of play Coca-Cola guarded a 4-2 advantage.

Gonzalito Pieres opened the third chukker with a penalty goal. Sebastian Merlos
responded with a goal for Coca-Cola and Nico Pieres was credited with the final goal of
the chukker with Coca-Cola ahead, 5-4 at halftime.

Coca-Cola’s defense did its job in the fourth period, blanking Audi and adding goals
from Erskine and Johnston. With just two chukkers to play Coca-Cola had expanded its
lead to three goals, 7-4.

Arellano scored the opening goal of the fifth chukker, but was countered by a pair of
goals from Nico Pieres. Ganzi was struck in the hand on a penalty shot from Merlos
and had to be replaced by Manual Villa mil for the sixth chukker. Coca-Cola continued
to lead, but Audi was now within two goals of Coca-Cola, 8-6.

Jeff Hall scored Audi’s only goal of the final chukker with Coca-Cola supplying a pair of
goals from Merlos and a single goal from Arellano for the 11-7 win.

Arellano, Erskine and Merlos scored three goals apiece in the win. Johnston scored
twice for the victory. Nico Pieres scored a team high five goals for Audi. Gonzalito
Pieres and Hall scored single goals in a losing effort.

The C. V. Whitney Cup semifinals are slated to be played on Wednesday, February 27
with Lechuza meeting Coca-Cola at 3pm while Alegria will play the winner of Sunday’s
noon contest between ERG and Zacara in the 1pm semifinal.