Audi and Equuleus score wins in Ylvisaker Cup play

By Alex Webbe

Two one-goal victories highlighted the day at the International Polo Club in Wellington with Audi knocking off Piaget 10-9 in overtime while Equuleus held on to defeat ERG 12-11 in the opening round of play in the 2012 Ylvisaker Cup.

Although a milestone in the career of any young polo player, the debut of 13-year-old Grant Ganzi on the Piaget team couldn’t slow down the Audi attack as Marc Ganzi (Grant’s father) led his team to a 10-9 win in sudden-death overtime over wife Melissa’s Piaget foursome.

“Marc and I play against one another all of the time,” said Melissa. “We thought this would be a good opportunity for Grant to get some experience at the high-goal level,” she added.

Audi opened play with a pair of goals from Nic Roldan (one from the field and one on a penalty conversion), with Jason Crowder scoring a chukker ending goal to get Piaget on the scoreboard.

Piaget turned it on in the second period, adding two more goals from Crowder while holding Audi to a single goal from Rodrigo Andrade. After two chukkers of play it was all even at 3-3.

Crowder’s fourth goal of the game had Piaget ahead 4-3 when Audi responded. A goal from Roldan and three consecutive goals from Andrade, the last being batted out of mid-air for the score, stopped Piaget in their tracks as Audi rode off of the field on top of a 7-4 score.

Argentine 9-goaler Miguel Astrada scored his first goal of the day in the fourth, but Roldan quickly answered back, taking control of the ensuing throw-in and carrying it down the field for a score. Audi maintained a three goal lead after four chukkers, 8-5.

Astrada flexed his polo muscles in the fifth, first by converting a 60-yard penalty shot for a goal and then by picking up the ball of his own goal line and dashing nearly 300 yards for a goal. Audi was held scoreless for the first time all day but continued to lead, 8-7.

After two near goals earlier in the game, Grant Ganzi finally got on the scoreboard with a tying shot in the sixth, 8-8. Marc Ganzi responded with an Audi goal, but with seconds on the clock, Astrada nailed a shot through the Audi goal posts for a 9-9 tie and sudden-death overtime.

Both Audi (1-0) and Piaget (0-1) had early opportunities to control the ball, but it was Andrade who scored the game winner for the 10-9 win.

Astrada and Crowder scored four goals apiece for Piaget. Grant Ganzi added a goal in a losing effort.

Andrade registered five goals for Audi. Roldan contributed four for the win and Marc Ganzi accounted for a goal.

EQUULEUS 12, ERG 11

Both Equuleus and ERG made their 2012 debuts Friday afternoon in an opening round of the Ylvisaker Cup, but showed mid-season form as they battled to a 12-11 Equuleus win in the 20-goal competition.

Agustin Merlos opened the scoring with a penalty goal for ERG, but Equuleus promptly responded with a penalty goal from Mariano Gonzalez. Goals from ERG team captain Scott Wood and teammate Ulysses Escapite ended with ERG leading, 3-1.

Another penalty goal from Merlos in the second had ERG up, 4-1. Gonzalez scored on a 60-yard penalty shot and Paco de Narvaez scored on a beautifully executed backhander-from an angle, making it a one goal game, 4-3. Merlos added a final goal, and ERG preserved its lead, 5-3.

Escapite’s second goal on the afternoon had ERG leading by three goals in the fourth chukker, 6-3, when Equuleus stormed back into the game. De Narvaez scored once from the field and once on a penalty shot, and the period ended with ERG defending a narrow 6-5 advantage at the end of the first half against a surging Equuleus team.

Merlos converted a 60-yard penalty shot in the fifth chukker, but that would be the last ERG goal scored for the duration of the period. Gonzalez added two penalty goals to the Equuleus total and de Narvaez scored a goal from the field. With one chukker left to play, ERG trailed 11-9.

Merlos cut the Equuleus lead to a single goal with his fourth penalty goal of the match, and Luis Escobar tied it up, 11-11, with his first goal of the game.

Gonzalez scored his sixth penalty goal of the day for a 12-11 lead that held up in the final 34 seconds of play, and Equuleus celebrated its 12-11 win.

Gonzalez led all scoring with seven goals. De Narvaez scored five times in a winning effort.

Merlos led the ERG team with six goals. Escapite added two goals and Wood and Escobar each scored a goal.