Valiente and Orchard Hill score wins in Ylvisaker Cup play

By Alex Webbe

 

The 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup continued on Thursday at the International Polo Club with Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Tomas Garabini) finishing up its rain-postponed match in a 13-12 win over El Cabure (Kristie Allen, Sugar Erskine, Agustin Merlos and Carlucho Arellano). Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Marcos Alberdi) closed out the day by defeating Flight Options, 11-9.

 

Valiente was leading El Cabure 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon when the skies opened up and washed away the game. The two teams returned to the Number 1 field at IPC to finish the bout, with Santi Scoring the only goal in the balance of the “rain interrupted” first chukker for an early 4-2 advantage.

 

Second chukker action had Agustin Merlos converting a pair of penalty shots while Sapo Caset managed a goal from the field for Valiente. Valiente continued to lead, but El Cabure trailed by a single goal, 5-4.

 

Tomas Garbarini stretched the Valiente lead to two goals at the start of the third chukker, 6-4. Merlos and Caset exchanged goals to end the first half with Valiente on top of a 7-5 score.

 

Goals by Caset and Garbarini put Valiente in front by four goals, 9-5, at the start of the second half. Merlos responded with a goal from the field and a 60-yard penalty conversion, cutting the Valiente lead to a pair of goals, 9-7. Erskine had El Cabure within a goal, 9-8, as the chukker ended.

 

Torres and Erskine traded goals as the fifth chukker got underway, 10-9. Caset scored the final goal of the period for an 11-9 Valiente advantage.

 

Sixth chukker action had Torres and Caset adding single goals for a commanding 13-9 advantage. El Cabure tallied the final three chukkers of the match, with Erskine scoring twice from the field and Merlos adding a 60-yard penalty goal for the 13-12 final score.

 

Merlos led all scoring with seven goals (six on penalty shots). Erskine scored five times from the field. Caset led the Valiente attack with five goals. Torres was credited with five goals. Garbarini scored twice and Jornayvaz added a goal in the win and the team received one goal by handicap.

 

ORCHARD HILL 11, FLIGHT OPTIONS 9

 

In the final match of the day, 10-goaler Facundo Pieres scored six times in leading Orchard Hill to an 11-9 win over Flight Options in the 2014 Ylvisaker Cup.

 

Lucas Criado scored the first goal of the game on a shot from the field and Facundo Pieres added three penalty goals as Orchard Hill shutout Flight Options for the early 4-0 lead.

 

Miguel Astrada got flight Options back in the game in the second chukker, scoring the first two goals of the period to cut the lead to two goals, 4-2. Fred Mannix scored the final two goals of the chukker (one on a penalty conversion) for a 4-4 deadlock.

 

Astrada gave flight Options their first lead of the day on a goal from the field, but Orchard Hill was ready. Criado scored the final two goals of the chukker, giving Orchard Hill a narrow 6-5 halftime advantage.

 

The Orchard Hill defense stepped it up in the fourth, shutting down the Flight Options attack for the second time in the game. Two more goals from Pieres (one on a penalty shot) ended the period with Orchard Hill boasting an 8-5 lead.

 

Flight Options recorded fifth chukker goals from Juan Bollini and Mannix, but single goals from Orchard Hill’s Criado, Pieres and Marcos Alberdi had Flight Options trailing by four goals, 11-7, with one chukker left to play.

 

Orchard Hill did what little they had to do in the sixth to preserve their lead. Despite a pair of goals from Mannix, orchard Hill would ride off the field at the end of the game with an 11-9 victory.

 

Pieres scored a game high six goals (four on penalty shots). Criado added four goals and Alberdi scored once in the win. Mannix led the Flight Options scoring with five goals. Astrada added three goals and Bollini scored once in the loss.

 

Ylvisaker Cup action continues on Friday with a pair of 3pm games. Audi (0-1) meets CT Energia (0-1) in one contest while Tonkawa will debut against Lechuza Caracas.