Lucchese vs. Valiente I

01/22/2012, 12:00 pm | 2 IPC

Lucchese - 14, Valiente I - 11

In earlier action Lucchese raced out to an 8-4 halftime lead before downing Valiente I 14-11 to keep its record unblemished at 3-0 and set up a Wednesday showdown with Valiente II (3-0) in Bracket 1 play.

The 19-goal Lucchese team received one goal by handicap but it was Santiago Bottaro who scored the opening goal of the game for a 1-1 tie. Jeff Hall carried the ball over 150 yards down the field for Valiente I’s second goal of the game. Lucchese 9-goaler Pelon Stirling scored the final goal of the chukker seconds before the final horn, and the game was all even at 2-2 after the opening chukker of play.

Masterful stickwork and superior horses carried Stirling up and down the field in the second chukker as he scored the opening two goals of the period for a 4-2 Lucchese lead. Hall responded with a gal for Valiente I, but Stirling delivered a long pass down the field to Santiago Torres for another Lucchese goal. At the end of two chukkers, Lucchese held a 5-3 advantage.

Lucchese opened the third chukker with three consecutive goals for an 8-3 lead. Stirling scored on a penalty goal followed by goals from the field from Andres Weisz and team captain John Muse (which he scored on a pass from the throw-in at midfield). Robert Jornayvaz got Valiente I on the scoreboard with a goal at the final horn as Lucchese boasted an 8-4 lead at the end of the first half.

Stirling added two more goals in the fourth chukker, but penalties slowed Lucchese down. Valiente I picked up four goals on penalty shots (one from Hall and three from Santiago Toccalino) and the Lucchese lead was cut to just two goals, 10-8.

Stirling and Toccalino exchanged penalty goals in the fifth, with Weisz scoring the final goal of the chukker. The Lucchese lead was back at three goals, 12-9.

Torres scored his second goal of the game in the final chukker. Bottaro and Toccalino added single goals, and Stirling ended the game with his eighth goal of the day in the 14-11 win.

The victory gives Lucchese a perfect 3-0 record and will make Wednesday’s meeting with Valiente II (3-0) a showdown for the number one seed in Bracket 1 and a berth in Sunday’s Joe Barry Memorial Cup finals.

Stirling was credited with eight goals on the day for Lucchese. Torres scored four times and Muse scored once. Lucchese received one goal by handicap.

Toccalino registered five goals for Valiente I. Hall scored three times; Bottaro added two goals and Lefkowitz scored once.