Valiente and Las Monjitas score wins

By Alex Webbe

 

A misty rain didn’t slow down Joe Barry Memorial Cup action at the International Polo Club Thursday afternoon as Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, Santi Torres, Sapo Caset and Roberto Zedda) made their 2014 debut by defeating Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Mariano Gracida, Pablo MacDonough and Nico Espain) 13-10 followed by a 10-6 Los Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Geronimo Obregon, Eduardo Astrada and Alejandro Astrada) victory over Flight Options (Melissa Ganzi, Juan Bollini, Miguel Astrada and Fred Mannix).

 

In the opening match of the day, a swaggering Lechuza Caracas team took the field, fresh from their championship win in the finals of the season-opening 20-goal Herbie Pennell Cup, to meet the Colorado-based Valiente foursome. Nico Espain put Lechuza Caracas on the scoreboard just two minutes into the game on a goal from the field, 1-0. Sapo Caset responded with an expertly fashioned nearside neck shot that tied it up, 1-1. Santi Torres put Valiente in the lead, 2-1, with the final goal of the chukker.

 

Four consecutive goals from Valiente left Lechuza Caracas trailing 6-2 after the second. Caset opened the scoring with a 40-yard penalty conversion followed by a goal from the field. Torres added a goal from the field and Caset converted a 60-yard penalty shot for the 6-1 advantage. Pablo MacDonough scored Lechuza Caracas’ only goal of the chukker on a penalty shot. Valiente led by four goals, 6-2.

 

The two teams traded goals in the third, with Valiente’s Roberto scoring twice from the field and Lechuza Caracas getting single goals from Victor Vargas and Mariano Gracida. Valiente left the field at the end of the first half on top of an 8-4 score.

 

Two fourth chukker penalty goals from Lechuza Caracas 10-galer, Pablo MacDonough were answered by a single goal from Valiente’s Santi Torres. Lechuza Caracas cut the Valiente lead to three goals, 9-6.

 

Caset and MacDonough each scored a pair of goals in the fifth. Caset scored twice from the field while MacDonough scored one from the field and once on a 60-yard penalty shot. Lechuza Caracas trailed by three goals, 11-8.

 

Caset scored twice in the opening minutes of the final chukker for a 13-8 Valiente lead, and in spite of a Herculean effort by Lechuza Caracas team captain Victor Vargas that netted them two more goals, fell to Valiente 13-10.

 

Caset led all scorers with seven goals. Torres scored four times and Zedda added two goals for the win. MacDonough was credited with five goals (four on penalty shots). Vargas scored three times while Gracida and Espain added single goals in the loss.

 

Action in the 20-goal Joe Barry Memorial Cup continues on Friday with a 3PM contest between Palm Beach Illustrated (Jared Zenni, Tommy Collingwood, Magoo Laprida and Facundo Obregon) and Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Jeff Hall, Julio Arellano and Nick Morrison).

 

 

 

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