Mon 2nd Mar 2015Orchard Hill win C.V Whitney Steve Van Andel’s team claim victory in highest scoring Final in tournament’s history.
Orchard Hill (Steve Van Andel, Ezequiel Ferrario, Polito Pieres and Facundo Pieres) beat Alegria (Julian Mannix, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Sterling Giannico) 16-13 in the Final of The C.V. Whitney at International Polo Club Palm Beach on Sunday 1 March. With 10 goaler, Facundo Pieres and his cousin, Polito (who rose to 10 in the Argentine handicaps this year) on the Orchard Hill team sheet, spectators at the Florida Club expected domination from their camp in the opening chukka of the game. In fact, it was Alegria who opened the scoring with patron, Julian Mannix converting a 30-yard penalty shot in the initial moments of play. Orchard Hill replied with a penalty conversion of their own, before Mannix swept on the ball again scoring twice to take his team’s score to 3-1. Facundo and Ferrario notched up a goal apiece, but once again Mannix spirited the ball away to score another two goals. Facundo converted his second penalty of the chukka to end the first seven minutes of play with the scoreboard reading 5-4 to Alegria. Facundo tied the scores at 5-5 at the start of the second chukka, but Giannico quickly recaptured the lead with his first goal of the match. However, this was short-lived as Polito replied with consecutive goals before his cousin scored his team’s eighth goal. The third chukka was more controlled with Orchard Hill clamping down on Alegria’s attack whilst holding a strong defense position. A field goal from Ferrario and a 60-yard penalty by Facundo, paired with Alegria’s inability to score, led to a score of 10-6 at half-time. Aguerre led Alegria into the fourth, scoring a goal on the nearside, but his brother-in-law, Facundo was on the ball again taking the score to 11-7. A surprisingly quiet Ulloa finally got on the scoreboard with a 30-yard penalty shot before following up with a field goal of his own to close the gap for Alegria. A final goal from Facundo took Orchard Hill into the lead in the penultimate chukka with the scores reading 12-9. Into the fifth and Mannix scored his first goal since his inspired first chukka, whilst Ulloa converted a 60-yard penalty. However, with goals from both Ferrario and Facundo, Orchard Hill still retained their three-goal lead and meant Alegria had their work cut out if they had a chance at the title. Ulloa scored in the opening seconds of the last, but Facundo and Polito answered with goals of their own, keeping hold of their solid 16-12 lead. Ulloa once again scored, but time ran out for the Alegria side and Orchard Hill claimed the first 26 goal victory of the 2015 season with a 16-13 score. Unsurprisingly given his 10 goal tally in the match, Facundo was awarded MVP and Best Playing Pony for his NutraSweet, whilst The Stella Artois ‘She’s a Thing of Beauty’ Horse of the Tournament went to Mariano Aguerre’s Machitos Maradona. The Subsidiary Final for The Armour Cup was played earlier in the day between Lechuza Caracas (Victor Vargas, Nico Pieres, Juan Martin Nero and Juan Garcia Grossi) and Las Monjitas (Camilo Bautista, Sebastian Merlos, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Facundo Sola). In an exciting game, the scores were tied at 11-all at the end of the sixth, forcing the match into overtime. In the end, it was Lechuza’s Pieres who broke free to score the winning goal. Photograph: Orchard Hill, winners of the 2015 C.V. Whitney Cup. By Alex Pacheco.
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