Grand Champions Polo Club: Audi Loses In Les Armour Cup Semifinals, Looks Ahead to USPA Piaget Gold Cup

Source: News Release/Sharon Robb for PMG Inc.

Audi Loses In Les Armour Cup Semifinals, Looks Ahead to USPA Piaget Gold Cup

WELLINGTON, FL - ---Audi, still looking for its chemistry with a new lineup for the 26-goal season, was eliminated from the Les Armour Cup Thursday at Jan Pamela South Field.

Audi, leading for most of the first half against Orchard Hill, fell victim to penalties and missed penalty shots and lost a 16-12 decision.

Audi team captain Marc Ganzi goes in to back the ball despite pressure from Orchard Hill's Pablo MacDonough. Photo credit Alex Pacheco

Orchard Hill advances into Sunday's final against the winner of Friday's Piaget and ERG game at 11 a.m. at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

Grand Champions Polo Club-based Audi will now focus on the upcoming USPA Piaget Gold Cup which gets under way this week.

"We always go to play to win," said American 7-goaler Jeff Hall. "We definitely try to win. The score doesn't resemble how it was. We were behind by one in the last chukker."

Audi 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres led his team's scoring with eight goals but had a frustrating day at the penalty line.

Younger brother Nico Pieres, also a member of Audi's 20-goal team, added three goals and played well defensively stopping several Orchard Hill scoring attempts.

Hall added a goal in the fifth chukker and also played well breaking up Orchard Hill plays near goal to keep the game close.

Orchard Hill brothers Pablo and Matias MacDonough seemed unstoppable in the second half on both ends of the field. They combined for 13 goals, including six in the second half.

Gonzalito Pieres gave Audi a 1-0 lead early in the first chukker. Pablo MacDonough came back to tie the game at the end of the chukker.

The teams battled back and forth in the second chukker before Audi took a 5-3 lead with 1:40 left on Gonzalito Pieres' penalty-two shot. Matias MacDonough came back with less than 20 seconds left to cut the Audi lead to one, 5-4.

Audi controlled most of the third chukker, extending its lead to 6-4 and 7-4 with two more goals from Gonzalito Pieres.

Audi's Gonzalito Pieres on his way to scoring one of his eight goals. Photo credit Alex Pacheco

Audi penalties and technical foul on Nico Pieres enabled Orchard Hill to erase the deficit with Matias MacDonough cutting the lead to one on a penalty goal, 7-6, and Pablo MacDonough breaking loose from a defender to score and finish the first half tied at 7-all.

The momentum changed in the fourth chukker with Orchard Hill outscoring Audi, 3-1, to take a three-goal lead (10-7) late in the chukker. Gonzalito Pieres' goal at the end of the chukker cut the lead to two (10-8).

Audi continued battling back in the fifth chukker staying within two-goal range on another Gonzalito Pieres goal to end the chukker.

With 5:37 left in the sixth chukker, Nico Pieres made a nice run to beat two defenders and bring Audi to within one goal (13-12) of Orchard Hill.

Orchard Hill outscored Audi, 3-1, with a late chukker rally behind Rodrigo Andrade, Pablo MacDonough and Steve Van Andel scoring three unanswered goals within 3:30 minutes.

"I think we probably fouled too much, more than we would like to," Hall said. "We had a bad chukker those last few minutes but definitely the penalties hurt a bunch."

Audi team captain Marc Ganzi, this season's "bionic" player competing with a knee injury and fractured thumb, was struck in the hand with a polo mallet in the second chukker but remained in the game.

On paper, Audi remains one of the top teams to beat in the final two 26-goal tournaments of the season including the USPA Piaget Gold Cup and U.S. Open.

"It's still early, it is frustrating but we'll get it," Hall said. "We did a lineup change from last year so in a sense it's a whole new team. I'm playing forward instead of back and Nico is playing back now. We have a good team. I am confident we will do well. We just need to get lined out right. We have two more tournaments."

The Pieres brothers were members of the 2012 Argentine Open Ellerstina team that upset six-time defending champion La Dolfina with Adolfo Cambiaso, 12-10, in the final.

Audi's Nico Pieres grabs the ball out of the air away from defenders. Photo credit Alex Pacheco

CV WHITNEY CUP SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 3: CV Whitney Cup Final, Alegria vs. Lechuza Caracas, 3 p.m.

LES ARMOUR CUP SCHEDULE

Friday, March 1: Semifinal, Piaget vs. ERG, 11 a.m.

Sunday, March 3: Les Armour Cup Final, 10 a.m.

AUDI/PIAGET TOURNAMENT LINEUP

Feb. 19-March 3, CV Whitney Cup/Les Armour Cup
March 5-March 24, USPA Piaget Gold Cup
March 26-April 21, 109th Maserati U.S. Open Polo Championship

GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB

WHERE: On the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington.

INFORMATION: There are great field side views for tournament action at the home base of pro teams Audi and Piaget. Everyone is welcome to watch polo in a relaxed atmosphere during the spring and fall tournament season and other special events including the International Cup, Buzz Welker Memorial Junior Tournament, Women's Championship Tournament and Gay Polo League International Tournament.