Facundo Shines in 16-12 Audi Win

Audi 10-goaler Facundo Pieres scored twelve goals Wednesday afternoon against previously unbeaten Orchard Hill in a 16-12 win in the 2010 Arcalux United States Open Championship at the International Polo Club.

Facundo scored the first five goals of the game before brother Gonzalo added a goal for Audi , the 2009 defending US Open Champion, in what looked like a whitewashing of the orchard Hill team in Open action. Two more goals from Facundo had Audi up 8-0 before Orchard Hill finally responded with a goal from Lucas Criado with two minutes left to play in the second chukker.

Then it was Orchard Hill’s turn. As Audi relaxed to catch its collective breath, Orchard Hill went on a tear of its own, scoring five consecutive goals before Facundo added two more goals to the Audi total.

At the end of the first half, Orchard Hill had managed to scratch its way back into the game, trailing the powerful Audi team by only three goals, 10-7.

Gonzalito Pieres and Marc Ganzi supplied the only scoring of the fourth chukker as Audi extended its lead to five goals, 12-7, as Orchard Hill struggled to find any offensive punch in the second half.

The Pieres brothers each scored a goal in the fifth, but penalty conversions from Orchard Hill’s Hector Galindo and Pablo MacDonough kept Audi in front by five goals, 14-0 after the first five chukkers of the game.

Pablo MacDonough put three more goals on the scoreboard in the final chukker, but Facundo’s eleventh and twelfth goals of the game more than sealed their fate, as Audi (4-0) rolled over Orchard Hill (2-1) to become the first team to secure a berth in the tournament semifinals with a perfect 4-0 record.

Orchard will get one more opportunity to advance in the Open on Saturday when it faces Adolfo Cambiaso and the powerful Crab Orchard (1-1) team.

CRAB ORCHARD 15, PIAGET 13

In the second contest of the day, Crab Orchard (1-1) overcame an early 3-1 deficit to score a 15-13 win over Piaget (0-3) as US Open play continued.

Crab Orchard took advantage of three goals by Julio Arellano and a four-goal second chukker to pick up its first lead, 5-4, of the game in a contest that was closer than most had expected.

American 9-goaler Nic Roldan played brilliantly for Piaget, scoring a game high ten goals for Piaget, but the combination of Julio Arellano and Adolfo Cambiaso proved to be too much for the upset-minded Piaget foursome.

The first half ended with Crab orchard up, 9-7, a lead that Crab Orchard would maintain through the end of the game.

The loss knocked Piaget out of contention for this year’s Open while Crab Orchard managed to stay in contention for the coveted trophy.

US Open action will continue on Thursday when Las Monjitas (1-0) faces Valiente (1-0) in a game that will see five Astrada brothers take the field between the two teams. The second match of the day will pit the Bendabout/Wanderers (0-1) against Lechuza Caracas (0-1).

Share on Facebook

TAGS: 2010 IPC, Adolfo Cambiaso, Facundo Pieres, Gonzalito Pieres, Hector Galindo, International Polo Club, Julio Arellano, Lucas Criado, Marc Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Pablo MacDonough, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Polo, Polo Tournament, Steve Van Andel, The International Polo Club, US Open Polo Championship, Wellington, Wellington Florida