Audi vs. La Ensenada

04/11/2012, 2:00 pm |

Audi - 11, La Ensenada - 7

A balanced Audi attack led them to an 11-7 victory over winless La Ensenada Wednesday morning in the 2012 Nespresso US Open competition at the International Polo Club in Wellington. The triumph gives Audi a 3-1 record as the teams approach next Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Lucas James scored the first goal of the morning contest less than a minute into play with a goal from the field for La Ensenada, but that would be the last lead the Argentinian team would enjoy. Ten-goaler Gonzalito Pieres converted consecutive penalty shots and Marc Ganzi gave Audi the 3-1 lead with his first goal of the game with 47 seconds in the chukker.

After runs up and down the field I n the second chukker, James made good on a 40-yard penalty shot to cut the Audi lead to a single goal, 3-2. Gonzalito Pieres scored his first goal from the field, as the Audi lead returned to two goals, 4-2. Juan Garcia Grossi gave La Ensenada one more goal in the final 12 seconds of the period to trail by a single goal, 4-3.

La Ensenada might have had difficulty registering a win in Open play, but they were no push overs. Drive after drive was ably turned aside by the Audi attack as they took advantage of field position and well-executed teamplay. Jeff Hall opened the third period with a goal from the field followed by another goal from Ganzi, 6-3. La Ensenada team captain Ernesto Gutierrez got on the scoreboard with a goal, but Nico Pieres closed out the scoring with a tally as Audi took a dominant halftime 7-4 lead.

Hard-riding and well placed passes to streaking teammates began to take its toll on La Ensenada as a goal from Nico Pieres had Audi stretching their lead to four goals, 8-4. James converted a penalty shot for a goal and Grossi scored his second goal of the day as La Ensenada continued to trail, 8-6.

Ganzi scored his third goal of the game about midway through the fifth chukker, and Hall added another with 1:24 left in the period. A silent La Ensenada attack was looking at a 10-4 deficit going into the final chukker of play.

The Audi defense tightened in the final chukker, and there was less than three minutes to play when Matias Magrini managed to slip the ball through the Audi defense for a goal, 10-7, but the mini-rally would stall. Ganzi scored the final goal of the match for the 11-7 win and a top spot in next Wednesday’s Nespresso US Open quarterfinals with a 3-1 record.

Ganzi led all scoring with four goals. Gonzalito Pieres scored three times and teammates Nico Pieres and Hall added two goals apiece.

James set the pace for La Ensenada with three goals. Grossi scored twice. Gutierrez and Magrini scored single goals in the loss.