Polo News

Wins by Lucchese and Tonkawa Help to Shape Playoffs
By Alex Webbe - Wellington FL

Lucchese 13, Audi 12
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - 12:00 noon

With nearly half of the goals scored coming on penalty shots, Lucchese (John Muse, Andres Weisz, Magoo Laprida and Nico Pieres) managed to sneak past Audi (Marc Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Freddie Mannix and Lucas Lalor), 13-12, to register their second win in 2015 Joe Barry Memorial Cup play at the International Polo Club Wednesday afternoon.

Four of the first five goals scored came on penalty shots as Audi snuck out to the early 3-2 lead. Nic Roldan opened the game with a 30-yard penalty shot for a goal. Nico Pieres countered with a 30-yard penalty goal of his own, 1-1. Roldan added another 30-yarder for Audi with teammate Freddie Mannix scoring a goal from the field at the end of a 220-yard solo run to put Audi in front, 3-1. An Audi foul sent Pieres to the penalty line once more where he converted for the final goal of the chukker. Audi held the early lead, 3-2.

Lucchese tied the score on a 40-yard penalty goal from Pieres, 3-3, and then went ahead with a second penalty goal, 4-3. Andres Weisz found himself on the scoring end of a pass from Pieres as Lucchese stretched their lead to two goals, 5-3. Roldan scored on a 60-yard shot from the field on a pass from Mannix, 5-4, but Lucchese took back their two goal lead on a score from Weisz to end the chukker, 6-4.

Pieres scored on a 200-yard run to open the third period, 7-4. Audi team captain Marc Ganzi responded with a goal of his own, 7-5. Pieres scored his sixth goal of the chukker on another impressive run down the field, covering over 240-yards to put Lucchese up by three goals, 8-5. Roldan fired back for Audi with a 60-yard penalty goal and a goal from the field to end the chukker just one goal down, 8-7, at the end of the first half.

Pieres scored from the field to give Lucchese a two goals lead again, 9-7, with the opening goal of the fourth chukker. Roldan responded with a pair of penalty conversions for goals for Audi that tied the game at 9-9. Pieres closed out the chukker with another goal from the field and a penalty conversion for the 11-9 lead.

In a choppy period that saw both offenses sputter and defenses take center stage, Pieres accounted for the only score on a goal from the field. With one chukker left in regulation play, Audi trailed Lucchese by three goals, 12-9.

Pieres put Lucchese in the lead by four goals, 13-9, with the opening goal of the sixth period with Audi struggling to stay in the game. A goal from Ganzi cut the lead back to three goals, 13-10, but mishits and missed shots on goal continued to dog the Audi players. Audi failed to convert a 40-yard penalty shot down the backstretch, but Mannix connected on a pass from Roldan, 13-11, and scored the final goal of the game, 13-12, with seconds on the clock.

Pieres scored five of his game-high eleven goals on penalty shots. Weisz scored the other two goals for Lucchese in the win. Roldan led the Audi attack with seven goals (six on penalty conversions). Mannix scored five times and Ganzi added two goals in the loss.

The win boosts the Lucchese record to 2-0 while Audi falls to 1-1.

Click here for game photos by Alex Pacheco

Tonkawa 10, CT Energia 5
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - 3:00 pm

In the second tournament game of the day, Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalo Deltour, Inaki Laprida and Jeff Blake) loped out to a 5-3 halftime lead before disposing of a defective CT Energia (Alessandro Bazzoni, Kris Kampsen, Joao Paulo Ganon and Nick Manifold) offense, 10-5.

Brazilian 7-goaler Joao Ganon scored the first goal of the day for an early 1-0 lead, but Tonkawa responded in force. Constant pressure on the CT Energia goal resulted in a pair of 30-yard penalty conversions by Gonzalo Deltour that gave the 2-1 lead to Tonkawa. A final first chukker goal from Deltour had Tonkawa riding off the field with a 3-1 advantage.

Neither team was able to score from the field in a defensive second period. Deltour converted a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal for Tonkawa, 4-1. CT Energia responded with a 40-yard penalty goal of their own, with Ganon converting. At the end of the chukker Tonkawa continued to lead, 4-2.

In a disjointed third chukker the two teams traded single goals. Inaki Laprida gave Tonkawa a three goal lead, 5-2. Ganon answered back for CT Energia with a goal from the field to trail, 5-3.

Two minutes into the third period Laprida extended the Tonkawa lead to three goals, 6-3, but Ganon was on the case. Masterfully maneuvering his way through the entire Tonkawa team, the Brazilian matched the score by Laprida. Missed shots on goal and disjointed attacks marked the remainder of the period on both sides as the first half ended with Tonkawa on top of a 5-3 score.

Tonkawa took control of the game in the fourth chukker with Deltour adding two more goals and Laprida scoring a single goal. Shutout defense kept CT Energia off of the scoreboard as Tonkawa moved out to a commanding 8-3 lead.

Laprida’s third goal of the game had Tonkawa leading by six goals, 9-3, when CT Energia tried to mount a comeback. Ganon took the ball from the throw-in and raced down the field for a goal, 9-4. Two minutes later Ganon converted a 60-yard penalty shot, but when the horn sounded to end the period, Tonkawa continued to hold the lead, 9-5.

A lackluster sixth chukker resulted in a single penalty goal from Deltour as Tonkawa celebrated an ugly 10-5 win.

Deltour scored seven times (four on penalty conversions). Laprida was credited with three scores on the day. Ganon scored all five of the CT Energia goals two on penalty shots).

Click here for game photos by Alex Pacheco

Three Joe Barry Memorial Cup games are scheduled to be played on Thursday with Coca-Cola (0-2) facing a 1-0 FlexJet team (formerly Flight Options) at noon. Merchant Hub (0-2) takes on Enigma (0-1) at 1:00 pm with Orchard Hill (2-0) facing Lechuza Caracas (1-1) in a 3:00 pm contest.