Polo News

Valiente Wins Joe Barry Memorial, 13-8
Sunday, January 26, 2014 - Wellington FL
By Alex Webbe

VALIENTE 13, TONKAWA 8
Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Roberto Zedda) came out on top of a see-saw battle with Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade and Tomas Alberdi) Sunday afternoon in the final of the 2014 Joe Barry Memorial Cup at the International Polo Club with a rash of penalties in the sixth chukker that turned a neck-and-neck game into a five goal rout.

Goals were hard to come by in the opening chukker of play, with Valiente’s Santi Torres scoring the first goal of the match at the 4:14 mark for a 1-0 lead. Teammates Roberto Zedda and Sapo Caset followed up with single goals of their own while Tonkawa was unable to get their attack on track and remained scoreless, and trailed 3-0.

Gonzalito finally got Tonkawa on the scoreboard in the second period by way of a pair of penalty conversions, but Valiente continued to lead, 3-2. Torres scored the final goal of the chukker to put Valiente on top of a 4-2 score.

The two teams traded goals in the third, with Caset scoring twice (one on a penalty conversion) for Valiente and Gonzalito Pieres (penalty shot) and Rodrigo Andrade picking up goals for Tonkawa. At the end of the first half Valiente was in front by two goals, 6-4.

Valiente team captain Bob Jornayvaz found himself on the receiving end of a beautifully placed pass from Caset and burned it through the goalposts for a 7-4 Valiente lead. Pieres responded with four consecutive goals (three on penalty shots) for their first lead of the day, 8-7.

Valiente answered back, as Caset made good on two penalty shots to close the chukker. Valiente was back in the lead, but the margin had been cut to a single goal, 9-8.

Horse races up and down the field continued into the fifth chukker, but scoring was at a premium as neither team was able to break through the opposition to score. Valiente continued to defend a one goal lead, 9-8, as they entered the final chukker of play.

Defenses continued to rule the day in the opening minutes of the sixth chukker, until Caset scored from the field for a 180-8 edge. Torres made it 11-8 on his third goal of the day, but that was when the wheels came off the Tonkawa wagon. Three consecutive technical fouls were converted into two more goals for Valiente, with Caset converting on both attempts. The game ended with Valiente celebrating the 13-8 Joe Barry Memorial Cup victory.

Caset led all scoring with eight goals (four on penalty shots). Torres scored three times while Jornayvaz and Zedda each added a goal for the win. Pieres led the Tonkawa attack with seven goals (six coming on penalty shots). Andrade scored the other goal in the Tonkawa loss.

Click here for photos by Alex Pacheco

ORCHARD HILL 12, FLIGHT OPTIONS 10
Earlier in the day Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Lucas Criado, Facundo Pieres and Marcos Alberdi) outlasted Flight Options (Melissa Ganzi, Freddie Mannix, Miguel Astrada and Juan Bollini), 12-10, in a fast moving contest that decided the 2014 Bobby Barry Cup title.

Facundo Pieres scored the first goal of the game in the opening minute of play on a 200-yard run down the field that culminated in a 70-yard shot through the posts for the 1-0 Orchard Hill lead. A minute later Miguel Astrada tied it up for Flight Options, 1-1, with a 40-yard penalty conversion for a goal. Juan Bollini gave the lead back to Flight Options with a goal from the field. Flight Options left the field with a narrow 2-1 advantage.

Second period play saw Bollini score to move Flight Options in front, 3-1. Astrada added two more goals as the Flight Options lead continued to grow, 5-2. Orchard Hill got a single penalty goal from Caset.

Orchard Hill took control of the game in the third period, scoring three times while holding Flight Options scoreless. Facundo Pieres opened the chukker with a penalty goal followed by a goal from the field from Criado. Another goal from Facundo Pieres ended the first half with the team all even at 5-5.

Fred Mannix got Flight Options back on the scoreboard with a goal from the field for a 6-5 lead. Facundo Pieres scored twice to quickly regain the lead, 7-6. Facundo Pieres added another goal from the field for a 7-6 edge. Astrada knotted up the score again, 7-7, with the conversion of a safety (60-yards). Facundo Pieres and Marcos Alberdi each added a goal to end the chukker with Orchard Hill still on top, 9-7.

Flight Options scored on a pair of goals from Astrada (one on a penalty conversion) to tie it up, 9-9., while the team’s defense did the rest. Orchard Hill was unable to score and left the field at the end of the fifth chukker all tied up at 9-9.

Astrada gave Flight Options the lead, once again, on a goal from the field, but the balance of the period belonged to Orchard Hill. Facundo Pieres converted a penalty shot for the 10-10 tie at the 5:02 mark of the chukker. It was nearly four minutes of scoreless play before Criado took a pass from Pieres and raced down the field to score, 11-10. Criado stretched the Orchard Hill lead to two goals with his second goal of the chukker in the 12-10 victory.

Facundo Pieres led all scoring with eight goals, and was named MVP for his efforts. Lucas Criado’s Chiruza received Best Playing Pony honors.

Click here for photos by Alex Pacheco

LAS MONJITAS 11, CT ENERGIA 10
In a morning match between Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Geronimo Obregon, Eduardo Astrada, and Alejandro Astrada) and CT Energia (Alessandro Bazzoni, Kris Kampsen, Joao Paulo Ganon and Nick Manifold), Las Monjitas scored a come-from-behind victory in an 11-10 thriller.

Geronimo Obregon got Los Monjitas on the scoreboard early with a goal from the field. CT Energia’s Joao Ganon scored on a pair of penalty goals. Alejandro Astrada converted a penalty shot for Las Monjitas. CT Energia received one goal by handicap and took the early 3-2 lead.

Alejandro Astrada converted another goal in the second chukker but goals from the field from CT Energia team captain, Alessandro Bazzoni and Ganon had Las Monjitas in front, 5-3.

The two teams swapped goals in the third, with Bazzoni and Ganon (penalty shot) scoring single goals for CT Energia and Las Monjitas picking up goals from Obregon and Eduardo Astrada. At the halfway point, CT Energia was riding a 7-5 lead.

Alejandro Astrada added two more penalty goals in the fourth while a violent crash suffered by Kris Kampsen while charging down the field at full tilt (horse stumbled and fell head first) delayed the game by fifteen minutes while medics attended to Kampsen. He returned to the field, but the momentum was lost and the chukker ended in a 7-7 tie.

Bazzoni converted a penalty shot for CT Energia in the fifth, but single goals from Obregon and Eduardo Astrada had Las Monjitas on top, 9-8, with one chukker left to play.

Eduardo Astrada opened the sixth with a penalty conversion to give Las Monjitas a two goal lead, 10-8. CT Energia responded with goals from Ganon (penalty conversion) and Kampsen, 10-10. Alejandro Astrada scored the final goal of the match for the 11-10 Las Monjitas victory.

Alejandro Astrada’s team-high five goals all came on penalty shots. Obregon and Eduardo Astrada added three goals apiece for the win.

Ganon scored four of his five goals on penalty conversions. Bazzoni added three goals and Kampsen scored once in the loss. CT Energia also received one goal by handicap.

Click here for photos by Alex Pacheco