Thursday's Ylvisaker Cup results

Audi, Lucchese and Villa Del Lago
remain undefeated

By Alex Webbe

It was a full day of polo at the International Polo Club Thursday as eight teams
competed in second round play in the 2012 Ylvisaker Cup. Lucchese, Vila Del Lago
and Audi ended the day with unblemished 2-0 records while Piaget evened its record at
1-1.

Valiente II ran off to a 7-5 halftime lead before falling to Lucchese 13-12 after second
half play.

Lucchese phenom Santi Torres scored the first goal of the game but was countered by
goals from Nacho Astrada and Toto Collardin. Torres closed out the chukker by scoring
the tying goal, 2-2, on a well-executed nearside neck shot.

Astrada converted a 60-yard penalty shot to open the scoring in the second period and
give Valiente II a 3-2 edge. Pelon Stirling responded with a goal for Lucchese, to knot it
up at 3-3. Collardin notched the last tally of the chukker for a 4-3 Valiente II lead.

Stirling scored once from the field and converted a 60-yard Safety in the third chukker
but Valiente II added three more goals. Julio Gracida scored his first goal of the day
from the field while Astrada scored on a penalty shot and cut the ball through the
goalposts to end the chukker. Valiente II left the field at the end of the first half with a 7-
5 advantage.

Fourth period scores from Cote Zegers (substituting for the injured Andres Weisz) and
Stirling tied the game at 7-7. A second goal from Stirling had Lucchese ahead, 8-7
before Valiente stormed back. Astrada scored on a deep cut shot through the goalposts
while Julio Gracida converted a penalty shot, taking a 9-8 lead as the chukker ended.

Shutout defense and another pair of goals from Stirling (one on a penalty shot and one
from the field) in the fifth chukker had Lucchese in the lead with just one chukker left in
regulation time. Stirling scored the first goal on a 60-yard penalty shot and added the
second from the ensuing throw-in to lead, 10-9.

Collardin tied it at 10-10 in the sixth chukker with his third goal of the game. Torres
answered back with a go ahead goal for Lucchese, 11-10. Gracida had it all even at 11-
11 following a penalty conversion for a goal. Goals from Stirling and Zegers extended
the Lucchese lead to two goals, 13-11 with time running out. Astrada scored the final
goal of the game, but time expired, and Lucchese (2-0) celebrated the 31-12 win over

Valiente II (0-2).

Stirling held scoring honors with eight goals (four on penalty shots). Torres scored
three times. Zegers accounted for two goals in the win.

Astrada set the pace for Valiente II with six goals. Gracida and Collardin added three
goals apiece in the loss.

AUDI 9, EQUULEUS 5

Audi registered its second consecutive win in Ylvisaker Cup competition with a 9-5 win
over Equuleus (1-1) in Thursday morning play.

In a slow-start, Nic Roldan scored the only goal of the opening chukker while the Audi
defense held Equuleus scoreless. Audi missed a pair of 60-yard penalty shots and
continued to pressure the Equuleus goal, but were unable to convert on a number of
early opportunities.

Audi team captain Marc Ganzi scored a second unanswered goal in the second period
as Equuleus continued to struggle to find an offense. Audi missed on a couple of
scoring opportunities but continued to control the game.

Equuleus finally got on the scoreboard in the third on goals from Paco de Narvaez and
Mariano Gonzalez, but Audi responded with single goals from Roldan and Lucas Lalor.
At the end of the first three chukkers of play, Audi held a 4-2 lead.

Gonzalez cut the Audi lead to a single goal in the fourth with a penalty conversion.
Ganzi responded with his second goal of the game to maintain a two goal 5-3 lead with
two chukkers left to play.

Three straight goals from Audi in the fifth had them ahead 8-3 before Equuleus could
reply. Roldan opened with a penalty goal followed by individual goals from Ganzi and
Lalor, 8-3. Equuleus launched an attack that garnered hem a pair of goals from de
Narvaez, but at the end of the fifth, Audi continued to hold the lead, 8-5.

Ganzi’s fourth goal of the game was the last offense provided by either team as
Equuleus could do little to break through the Audi defense. The 9-5 win kept Audi
undefeated, 2-0, and assured it a spot in the tournament quarterfinals. The loss
dropped the Equuleus record to 1-1.

Ganzi led all scoring with four goals on the day. Roldan added three goals and Lalor
registered two goals in the win.

De Narvaez accounted for three of the Equuleus goals. Gonzalez scored twice.

VILLA DEL LAGO 16, ZACARA 13

Sixteen-year-old Jared Zenni lit it up in the opening chukker of the 1 pm game for Villa
Del Lago, scoring three consecutive goals before Zacara could react. His first goal
was a brilliantly executed cut shot off of the backline with a second goal coming just 30
seconds later. Zenni made it 3-0 at the midway point of the period. Marcos Llambias
finally got Zacara in the scoring column with a penalty goal to end the chukker. Villa Del
Lago rode off the field at the end of the first period with a 3-1 lead.

Jeff Blake opened the second chukker with a Zacara goal. Villa Del Largo responded
with goals from Augustin Obregon and Zenni. Blake notched his second goal of the
game and Llambias scored on a 40-yard penalty shot, cutting the Villa Del Lago lead to
a single goal, 5-4 to end the chukker.

Zacara wasted little time in the third, with Gonzalo Del Tour taking the opening throw-
in down the field to score with just 18 seconds off of the clock. Del Tour converted a
penalty goal for Zacara’s first lead of the day. Pelon Escapite tied it up on a penalty
conversion and took the following throw-in down the field for his second goal and a 7-
6 Villa Del Lago lead. Del Tour tied it again at 7-7, but consecutive goals from Escapite
and Zenni (a backhand cut shot) closed out the chukker with Villa Del Lago sitting on
top of a 9-7 halftime lead.

Magoo Laprida burst out of the opening throw-in of the fourth chukker and raced
downfield to score, extending the Vila Del Lago lead to three goals, 10-7. Zacara rallied
with three straight goals to knot it up at 10-10 with Llambias scoring on a pair of penalty
shots and Del Tour cutting the ball through the goal posts for the final goal of the period.

The pace of play continued to escalate into the fifth with Laprida putting Villa Del Lago
ahead, 11-10. Blake added a goal for Zacara on a penalty conversion, but a second
goal from Laprida had Villa Del Lago ahead, 12-11 at the end of the chukker.

Escapite opened the final chukker with a goal from the field for a 13-11 advantage
followed by a goal from Laprida (from the throw-in), 14-11. Blake scored on a penalty
goal and Del Tour added a goal from the field, as the lead was cut to a single goal, 14-
13, once again. Escapite added a penalty goal and Laprida closed out the game with
his fifth goal of the game for a 16-13 victory.

Del Tour led all scoring with six goals. Llambias scored five times and Blake added a
pair of penalty goals.

Zenni, Laprida and Escapite scored five goals apiece in the win. Obregon added a
goal.

PIAGET 11, ERG 8

Piaget (1-1) closed out the day by posting an 11-8 win over ERG (0-2) in a game in
which they never trailed.

After a tenuous start, Juan Bollini jumped on the ball and carried it over 200 yards for
the opening goal and a 1-0 Piaget lead. Agustin Merlos converted a penalty shot for a
goal to tie it up at 1-1.

Miguel Astrada scored in the second period as both teams struggled to control of the
ball. Piaget was up, 2-1. Merlos converted a 60-yard Safety to keep it all even at 2-2 to
end the chukker.

The pace picked up in the third with Jason Crowder’s first goal of the game putting
Piaget back on top, 3-2. Astrada took the following throw-in 150 yards down the field
to make it 4-2. The Piaget defense swarmed ERG, forcing errors and fouls. Two more
penalty goals from Astrada ended the third chukker as Piaget left the field at halftime
with a 6-2 lead.

Merlos and Astrada exchanged penalty goals in the opening minutes of the second half,
but Piaget held on to the 7-3 edge. Another penalty goal from Merlos was answered by
a goal from the field from Crowder, 8-4. Astrada scored the last goal of the chukker on
another penalty shot, and Piaget took a 9-4 lead into the fifth.

ERG team captain Scott Wood opened the fifth chukker with a goal from the field,
followed by a goal from Luis Escobar. Astrada’s seventh goal of the match ended the
chukker with Piaget coasting on a four goal 10-6 lead with one chukker left to play.

Merlos added two more goals to the ERG total, but Melissa Ganzi’s sixth chukker score
gave Piaget the 11-8 win.

Astrada led the Piaget attack with seven goals. Crowder scored two goals and Ganzi
and Bollini added single goals in the win.

Merlos accounted for six goals for ERG. Wood and Escobar added single goals in the
loss.

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