Lechuza Caracas and Alegria register
Maserati U. S. Open wins

By Alex Webbe

Lechuza Caracas broke open a hotly-contested match with Piaget Saturday afternoon in
2013 Maserati U. S. Open competition at the International Polo Club in Wellington after
team captain Melissa Ganzi was forced to retire from the game due to an injury in the
opening minute of the fourth chukker. Piaget was trailing by a single goal at the time
but ended up on the losing end of a 14-11 score.

Piaget came out with guns blazing in the opening chukker of play, scoring three times
with no response from Lechuza Caracas. Piaget’s two 10-goalers accounted for all of
the scoring in the first with Sapo scoring twice from the field and Miguel Novillo Astrada
adding a single goal for an opening 3-0 lead.

Lechuza Caracas finally got on the scoreboard in the second period when 8-goaler
Polito Pieres converted a penalty shot for a goal at the 5:55 mark. A minute later
Lechuza Caracas 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero cut the Piaget lead to a single goal, 3-2
on a goal from the field. With three minutes left to play in the chukker, Caset received
a pass from Nacho Badiola at midfield and carried the ball 150 yards down the field
on a great individual effort and scored a goal, 4-2. A penalty goal from Pieres with
13 seconds on the clock ended the chukker with Piaget holding on to a narrow 4-3
advantage.

Lechuza Caracas tied it up at 4-4 just over a minute into the third period on a goal from
the field from Pieres. A costly Lechuza Caracas foul sent Caset to the penalty line
just 30 seconds later where he converted the shot for a goal and a 5-4 Piaget lead.
Consecutive penalty goals from Pieres ended the first half with Lechuza Caracas in
front, 6-5.

One minute and nine seconds into the second half, Piaget team captain Melissa Ganzi
pulled up injured (believed to be pulled muscle inside her thigh) and was forced to retire
from the game. Seventeen-year-old Wellington Central High School senior Lorenzo
Merlotti was brought in to replace Ganzi and the game continued.

Pieres twice from the field and added a penalty goal while Piaget was limited to two
penalty conversions for goals from Caset. At the end of the fourth chukker Lechuza
Caracas led by two goals, 9-7.

Lechuza Caracas ran loose in the fifth period scoring three consecutive goals for a 12-
7 advantage. A pair of goals from Nero and a goal from team captain Victor Vargas
had Piaget trailing by five goals. Astrada put the ball through the Lechuza Caracas
goalposts with 31 seconds left in the chukker, but Piaget continued to trail by a 12-8
score.

Two goals from Caset opened the sixth chukker (one from the field and one on a
penalty shot) and brought Piaget with two goals of Lechuza Caracas, 12-10, when
Vargas took control of the ball. Turning the ball away from the sideboards at a full
gallop, Vargas brought it across in front of the goal where he drove it through for a
score, 13-10. At the 2:39 mark of the final chukker Caset made an incredible shot
from the sideboards that carried nearly 100 yards on an angel and rolled through the
goalposts, 13-11, but little time was left. Pieres scored the final goal of the game at the
1:41 mark to give Lechuza Caracas the game, 14-11.

Polito scored six of his team high nine goals on penalty shots. Nero added three goals
to the mix and Vargas was credited with two goals on the day. Caset set the pace for
Piaget with nine goals (four on penalty shots). Astrada scored twice in a losing effort.

ALEGRIA 11, FARAWAY 7

Alegria closed out the day with an 11-7 Maserati U. S. Open win over Faraway in first
round tournament play.

A tenuous opening chukker saw Nic Roldan score the first goal of the day for Faraway
on a penalty conversion at the 6:11 mark. Alegria team captain Julian Mannix knotted
it up at 1-1 with a goal from the field, and the two teams left the field at the end of the
period deadlocked at 1-1.

A second penalty conversion by Roldan had Faraway ahead 2-1 just eight seconds into
the second chukker, but that was where it started to come unraveled for Faraway. Four
straight goals from Alegria (two from Hilario Ulloa and single penalty goals from Mariano
Aguerre and Facundo Obregon) left Faraway in the rearview mirror as Alegria sped off
with a 5-2 lead.

The third chukker belonged to Alegria once again. Shutout defense by Alegria and
three goals from Obregon (two from the field and one on a penalty shot) had Faraway
trailing by six goals at the end of the first half, 8-2.

A realigned Faraway team returned to the field in the fourth chukker and appeared up
to the task. Aguerre and Julian Mannix scored single goals from the field while Matias
Magrini kept Faraway from getting shutout for the second consecutive chukker by
scoring a goal. Alegria had stretched its lead to seven goals, 10-3.

Faraway’s Santiago Chavanne and Alegria’s Aguerre traded goals in the fifth, but the
new lineup was a marked improvement, as Faraway held their own for the first time
since the opening chukker.

With Roldan playing the Back position, log drives and towering passes from the talented
8-goaler rained down on teammates in the sixth chukker. Magrini added another
goal from the field while Roldan scored twice (once on a penalty shot). The Faraway
defense held Alegria scoreless for the first time all day, but ended up on the short end
of an 11-7 score. Although Faraway outscored Alegria 5-3 in the second half, it wasn’t
enough to dig their way out of the first half deficit.

Roldan scored four times for Faraway with teammates Magrini adding a pair of goals
and Chavanne accounting for a goal in the loss. A balanced Alegria attack had
Obregon leading the way with four goals (two on penalty shots). Aguerre was credited
with three goals while Mannix and Ulloa scored two goals apiece in the victory.

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