Valiente edge past Orchard Hill 12-11 in US Open Polo Championship
The team of Valiente has emerged victorious against Orchard Hill in the final round match of the United States Open Polo Championship being held at the field of International Polo Club in Wellington.
Valiente commenced the contest with some aggression, but it could not take lead in the first half of play. Hector Galindo and his team-mate Lucas Criado scored two and one goal respectively to take lead for Orchard Hill. Polito Pieres led all the strikes
for Valiente and notched two goals to bring his team on the scoreboard. Valiente trailed by a single score, 3-2 after the first seven and half minutes of play.
In the second period, the two teams traded two goals each and went forward into the later stage. Pablo MacDonough and Steve Van Andel scored one goal each while Miguel and Nacho Astrada responded with same two goals. At the end of the period, Orchard Hill
was holding a single goal 5-4, advantage.
Nacho Astrada and Bob Jornayvaz added one goal apiece to take lead in the game. But MacDonough through a field effort had it all even. In the later time, Nacho Astrada and MacDonough swapped one goal to continue the tie-up at seven-all.
The two sides made their defence tighter in the fourth set of play. Nacho Astrada scored off a penalty shot and established their first dominance in the game. Valiente was hanging on to a one-goal lead, 8-7 after the four chukkas of play. The stiff defence
from Valiente kept Orchard Hill off the scoreboard.
The fifth round was opened with a goal from Nacho Astrada to expand the Valiente lead up to two points. MacDonough in a counter-offence connected on a penalty shot. Another Valiente goal went up on the scoreboard to close out the period with Orchard Hill
trailing two goals, 10-8.
The Orchard Hill attack came alive in the last chukka and it carried out numerous strikes in a bid to take the game under their control. Criado took the ball away and hit a long risky shot which moved in the Valiente goalposts. With five minutes left on
the clock, Criado added another score from the same field effort and tied the knots at ten-all.
In the later stage, Pieres and MacDonough exchanged one goal each and made the game more interesting. The two sides started an aggressive game on the field in the last minutes of the regulation time period. The strikers from both sides were playing long
hits to get a go-ahead goal, but failed to do so until the last 20 seconds.
Pieres managed to take the ball away and took a lengthy ride to convert it into a successful effort. He played a powerful stroke from 100-yard distance to seal the Valiente victory in the crucial game at 12-11.
Valiente improved their position in the group 2-1 while Orchard Hill received its third defeat of the US Open Polo Championship.
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