Wins by Valiente and Coca-Cola marred by injured player By Alex Webbe Injuries had a reshuffled Valiente lineup (Tommy Beresford, Peke Gonzalez, Santi Torres and Sapo Caset) taking the field against FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi, Cody Ellis, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Rodrigo Andrade) Saturday morning in the opening game of the 2015 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup at the International Polo Club. Valiente team captain, Bob Jornayvaz, is nursing sore elbow while son Robert Jornayvaz is recovering from a fall in a practice match that had him spend the night in the hospital for observation. English 2-goaler Tommy Beresford and 1-goaler Peke Gonzalez filled in for the injured patron and his son while FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi, Cody Ellis, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Rodrigo Andrade) was playing with a new lineup with Melissa Ganzi the only remaining original member of her Joe Barry Memorial Cup team. South African Cody Ellis made his presence known in the first 30 seconds of play, scoring the first goal of the game on a difficult nearside neckshot, under pressure, for the early 1-0 lead. Goals from Santi Torres and Tommy Beresford ended the opening chukker with Valiente on top, 2-1. Two more Valiente goals in the second chukker went unanswered. Ten-goaler Sapo Caset exploded toward the FlexJet goal in the opening seconds of the second period, scoring his first goal of the day and stretching the Valiente lead to two goals, 3-1. Torres scored his second goal of the game with 1:53 left on the clock to make it 4-1. Beresford was at it again in the third scoring his second goal on the day just 87 seconds into the period, 5-1. His third goal of the match came at the 4:27 mark as FlexJet searched for an effective attack. A Valiente foul sent Miguel Novillo Astrada to the penalty line where he converted a 60-yard penalty shot that cut the lead back to four goals, 6-2, at the end of the first half. Both defenses stepped it up in the fourth chukker as shots were blocked and players ridden off of plays. Astrada took advantage of another Valiente foul at the 3:20 mark, converting it for the only score in the chukker. Valiente continued to lead, 6-3. Astrada and Caset traded goals in the fifth. Astrada scored in the opening minute of play on a shot from the field. Caset converted a 30-yard penalty shot midway through the chukker. The three goal Valiente lead held, 7-4. Brazilian 9-goaler Rodrigo Andrade came alive in the sixth, scoring three consecutive goals to knot the score at 7-7 with three minutes left in regulation time. A FlexJet foul
resulted in another penalty goal, 8-7 with under two minutes left to play. FlexJet continued to press their attack when Peke Gonzalez broke loose to score the final goal of the match (:36) to give Valiente the 9-7 victory. Caset and Beresford scored three goals apiece for Valiente. Torres was credited with two goals and Gonzalez added a goal for the win. Andrade and Astrada scored three goals each for FlexJet. Ellis added a goal in a losing effort. Gateway Merchant 9, Casablanca 8 (Incomplete) The second match of the day in Ylvisaker Cup competition was suspended after nearly four-and-a-half chukkers of play between Merchant Hub (Pelon Escapite, Marianito Obregon, Luis Escobar and Scott Swerdlin) and Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Guille Aguero, Mark Tomlinson and Jan Bollini) with Casablanca holding on to a fragile one goal, 9-8 lead. The 18-goal Casablanca team received one goal by handicap from Gateway Merchant with Luis Escobar scoring the first goal of the game on a penalty shot late in the opening chukker, 1-1. Juan Bollini countered with a goal from the field that ended the chukker and had Casablanca riding off the field at the end of the first chukker with a 2-1 edge. Escobar tied the score at 2-2 with a 40-yard penalty shot just two minutes into the second period. Consecutive goals (the second on a 30-yard penalty conversion) from Casablanca 6-goaler Mark Tomlinson ended the period putting Casablanca ahead, 4-2. Both offenses picked up the pace in the third chukker. Tomlinson opened the period with a 30-yard penalty goal, 5-2, followed by single goals from Escapite and Escobar, 54. Guille Aguero had a scoring run of 200 yards that would extend the Casablanca lead to two goals, 6-4. With 52 seconds left in the first half, Escobar converted a penalty shot for a goal that had Gateway Merchant within a goal lead, 6-5. Tomlinson and Escobar exchanged penalty goals in the opening minutes of the fourth period, 7-6. Aguero extended the Casablanca lead to two goals, 8-6, with a goal from the field. Escobar shaved the Casablanca lead back to a single goal, 8-7, with a 40yard penalty conversion with just under four minutes left in the chukker. Tomlinson scored a goal from the field to end the period with Casablanca in the lead, 9-7. Escobar scored the first goal of the fifth period on a penalty shot at 4:40, but just a minute later a violent collision between teammates Escobar and Escapite in the goal mouth had both players on the ground. Escapite got up, but Escobar remained down. EMTs were immediately on the field and within minutes an ambulance was on hand to transport Escobar to a helicopter that flew him to the Delray Medical Center. Team
representatives on the field decided it would not be appropriate to continue playing the game in the immediate aftermath of the accident, and the game was suspended. Coca-Cola 12, Tonkawa 8 Coca-Cola (Gillian Johnston, Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Mason Wroe) outscored Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Gonzalo Deltour, Inaki Laprida and Jeff Blake) 2-1 in contentious first chukker play on the strength of goals from Julio Arellano (a 60-yard penalty conversion) and Mason Wroe. Inaki Laprida converted a 40-yard penalty shot for Tonkawa as they struggled with their offense in the opening minutes of the game. Second chukker goals from Gonzalo Deltour and Laprida tied the game at 3-3. Arellano’s second penalty goal of the match had the teams all even after two periods of play. Arellano scored on a 60-yard penalty shot in the third and team captain Gillian Johnston added a goal from the field, 5-3. Tonkawa couldn’t find an offense, and even missed a 30-yard penalty shot that would have given them a goal. Arellano added two more goals from the field as a dominant Coca-Cola team ended the first half of play on the winning end of a 7-3 score. Deltour scored the first goal of the fourth chukker, 7-4, but Wroe scored from the field and Arellano added another penalty goal. After four chukkers of play, Coca-Cola was enjoying a 9-4 advantage and dominance of the game. Sugar Erskine and Arellano scored single goals in the fifth chukker for a commanding 11-4 lead. Deltour got Tonkawa on the scoreboard with a final goal, 11-5, but it was Coca-Cola who remained in control of the game. Sixth chukker goals from Jeff Blake and Deltour cut the Coca-Cola lead back to four goals, but time was running out. Johnston scored her second goal of the game to put Coca-Cola in the lead by five goals, 12-7. Deltour scored the final goal of the game, but the outcome had long been decided. Coca-Cola celebrated the 12-8 win. Arellano led all scoring with seven goals (three on penalty shots). Johnston and Wroe scored two goals each and Erskine added a goal for the win. Deltour was credited with five goals for Tonkawa. Laprida scored twice and Blake picked up a goal in the loss. Ylvisaker Cup competition continues with three games on Sunday. Enigma is scheduled to meet Orchard Hill in a 10am contest; Villa Del Lago will face Lucchese at noon and Audi will play CT Energia in the featured 3pm contest.