Zacara vs. ERG

04/18/2012, 4:00 pm |

Zacara - 14, ERG - 13

After rushing out to a 3-0 first chukker lead and leading by four goals, 7-3 after the second Zacara found themselves in a cat fight that they barely managed to hold on to for the 14-13 win.

The smart money had Zacara as the pre-game favorite unless Agustin Merlos got hot. If “Tincho” started connecting with the ball, all bets were off. This is the same player who set a scoring record with 18 goals in one game in the Argentine Open and who set the scoring record in England’s Gold Cup with 50 goals! Backed by Sebastian Merlos and Paco de Narvaez, ERG had managed to break its way into the semifinals with a 12-10 win over Audi.

Zacara was going to rely on Facundo Pieres who scored ten goals in the team’s quarterfinal 13-7 romp over Coca-Cola with heavy support from Magoo Laprida, Mike Azzaro and team captain Lyndon Lea.

Zacara started out strong, and seemed to catch ERG flat-footed, scoring three straight goals in the first chukker from Laprida, Azzaro and Pieres. It wasn’t so much the stellar defensive work that Zacara turned in that kept ERG from scoring as the fact that for most of the opening chukker ERG found themselves on defense. A number of shot that carried wide of the ERG goal posts could have made it worse as Zacara continued to pound away on offense.

Penalties bogged down play in the second chukker with six of the next seven goals coming on penalty shots. Agustin Merlos converted three penalty shots for goals while Pieres scored three times from the penalty line and added a goal from the field for good measure. After two periods of play ERG trailed by four goals, 7-3.

A renewed ERG team took to the field in the third putting immediate pressure on the Zacara goal. Penalties cost Zacara once again, however, with Agustin Merlos converting a pair of penalty shots for goals, cutting the Zacara lead to two goals, 7-5. Halfway through the chukker, Pieres gave Zacara an 8-5 lead with his sixth goal of the game. Sebastian Merlos cut the margin back to two, with his first goal. The first half ended with a resurging ERG team down by just two goals, 8-6.

Laprida put Zacara ahead, 9-6, in the opening minute of the second half, but Agustin Merlos pared that lead back to two goals, 9-7, with another penalty conversion for a goal. Pieres and Agustin Merlos exchanged penalty goals, with Zacara maintaining a two goal lead until the final two minutes of the chukker. Agustin Merlos scored his eighth goal of the game but his first from the field, cutting the Zacara lead to a single goal, 10-9 to end the period.

Pieres and Agustin Merlos exchanged goals in the fifth, with Pieres scoring on a pair of penalty goals and Agustin Merlos scoring once from the field and once from the penalty line. It remained a one goal game, 12-11, going into the final period of regulation play with Zacara in the lead.

At the six minute mark of the final chukker, Sebastian Merlos scored on a 200 yard breakaway, knotting it up at 12-12. Pieres gave the advantage back to Zacara, 13-12 on a 60-yard penalty shot. Laprida gave Zacara a little breathing room with his third goal on the day for a 14-12 edge. Agustin Merlos scored the final goal of the game with two-and-a-half minutes on the clock to cut the Zacara lead back to a single goal, 14-13, and that’s where it ended, with Zacara celebrating the victory.

Agustin Merlos led all scoring with eleven goals (nine on penalty shots). Sebastian Merlos added two goals in the loss.

Pieres was credited with ten goals (seven on penalty conversions). Laprida scored three times and Azzaro added a goal in the win.

The victory boosted Zacara into its first US Open final against Lechuza Caracas on Sunday, April 22 at 4pm at the International Polo Club in Wellington.