US Open Polo Champions 2013 Zacara Polo Team
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US Open Polo Champions Teasure. L-R Mike Azzaro's arms hold US Open Trophy Cup aloft Wife Amy, Daughter Allie and Son Hunter.
ZACARUS US OPEN POLO CHAMPIONS 2013
Story by Ron Allen Photography by Sheryel Aschfort
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With shear determination and a solid game plan Zacara upset Valiente in the finals of the U.S. Open. The determination came from, former 10 goaler, Mike Azzaro (7) who gave 100% in spite of being injured in a game just four days earlier. The game plan was to shut down the “double back” option play which Cambiaso and Sterling had developed so well this season.
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Captain of Zacara US Open 2013 Winners Lyndon Lea, flanked by his elated team players on his right Mike Azzaro and Magoo Laprida, and on his left Facundo Pieres.
Both teams traded goals and the lead several times throughout the hotly contested title match. Valiente with a one goal lead at the end of the first chukker. Santi Torres (6) with a 200-yard run to goal, under pressure, to tie the game at 5 all at the end of two. Valiente took back the lead by half time 8 to 7.
Facundo Pieres (10) with three goals in the fourth, including an impressive 100 yard goal to put Zacara back in the lead 10 to 9. Several fouls were called against Valiente as the result of the tactics used by Zacara throughout the match. The game was tied eight times and a tenacious defense by Zacara held Valiente scoreless in the final chukker.
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Several fouls were called against Valiente as the result of the tactics used by Zacara throughout the match
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
There was controversy near the end of the game when officials gave Valiente a mid-field penalty shot when Cambiaso felt it should have been a 60 yard penalty four. In frustration he struck the ball and walked off the field. The interpretation of where the ball should have been placed was the subject of much debate among spectators following the game. Lyndon Lea’s Zacara team went on to win the Open for the second year in a row 16 to 13 on 12 goals from Pieres.
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Zacara 2013 US OPEN Polo Champions
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
There was controversy near the end of the game when officials gave Valiente a mid-field penalty shot when Cambiaso felt it should have been a 60 yard penalty four.
In frustration he struck the ball and walked off the field.
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Photography by Sheryel Aschfort www.thepolopaparazzi.com
Zacara defends 2012 US Open title with
a 16-13 win over Valiente
Story by Alex Webbe
Zacara successfully defended its 2012 US Open Crown with a solid 16-13 win over A Valiente team they lost to just weeks earlier. I was only weeks earlier that Valiente had beaten Zacara 13-9 a in the finals of the USPA Piaget Gold Cup, but this Sunday belonged to Zacara. In a neck-and-neck game that had the score tied eight times, Zacara emerged victorious on the strength of a 16-13 win over a powerful Valiente lineup.
“For two days we spent hours and hours reviewing game films,” said Zacara patron, Lyndon Lea. “We wanted to see what they did differently when they ran all over a team than when they had a closer match,” offered Lea.
The work appeared to pay off, but it was no easy task in the early goings.
Facundo Pieres was on the scoring end of a pass from Magoo Laprida for the first goal of the game to put Zacara in the lead, 1-0. A minute later Valiente patron Bob Jornayvaz broke free of a Zacara defender to tie it up, 1-1. A 60-yard penalty conversion from Pieres was answered less than a minute later when Cambiaso converted on a pass from Stirling to tie it up at 2-2. Mike Azzaro drove the ball through the goalposts when he scored on a 45 yard shot on goal for a 3-2 advantage. Santi Torres closed out the scoring in the chukker with a pair of penalty conversions for a 4-3 lead.
After seven first chukker goals, the pace became more guarded and deliberate in the second. Torres stole the ball from Zacara’s Mike Azzaro around midfield and raced down the field for a score on a great individual effort, 5-3. Pieres added another goal from the penalty line, 5-4. Magoo Laprida scored for Zacara on a pass from Pieres to tie it up at 5-5. Valiente had the opportunity to re-take the lead on a penalty shot, but the shot was blocked and the period ended in a 5-5 deadlock.
Third chukker actin got underway with a goal from the field from Pieres at 6:49 for a 6-5 lead. Cambiaso beat Laprida on a play to the goal, and it was all even at 6-6. Pelon Stirling scored his first goal of the game for a 7-6 Valiente advantage. A goal from Torres had Zacara trailing by two, 8-6 at the 1:31 mark, but Laprida drew Zacara within a goal with a score in the final minute of the chukker. At the end of the first half of play, Valiente held a tenuous 8-7 lead.
It was just over a minute into the second half of play when Stirling’s second goal of the game had Valiente ahead, 9-7, but that was when the tables turned. Pieres connected on two consecutive 60-yard penalty shots to tie it up at 9-9. An impressive 100-yrd shot from the field from Pieres split the goalposts and ended the period with Zacara holding on to a delicate 10-9 edge.
Valiente fouled their way into trouble in the opening seconds of the fifth chukker, as Pieres converted another 60-yard penalty shot for a goal, 11-9. Torres responded with a goal of his own to cut the Zacara lead to a single goal, 11-10. Pieres added another penalty goal to the Zacara total on a 40-yard penalty conversion, 12-10, when Valiente got back on track. Valiente took advantage of Zacara miscues to add three more goals to their total. Cambiaso scored goals on two penalty opportunities to knot it up at 12-12, and Torres gave the lead back to Valiente on his second penalty conversion of the chukker for a 13-12 Valiente lead with one chukker left in regulation time.
Less than a minute into the sixth chukker, 6:37, Pieres tied it up on another penalty conversion. As Valiente struggled to right the ship, Pieres gave Zacara the lead back, 14-13 on his eighth penalty goal of the match (5:03). Laprida gave Zacara some breathing room with less than two minutes left on the clock to move Zacara ahead by two goals, 15-13. Valiente got desperate, and the fouls kept coming. Valiente found themselves awarded a penalty shot at midfield when Cambiaso protested. When the umpire placed the ball on the spot, Cambiaso argues the placement of the ball and hit it forward, resulting in a final penalty against Valiente. For the ninth time, Pieres would convert a penalty shot, and with 1:02 left in the game, Zacara was on top, 16-13. Cambiaso removed himself from the game, at this point, and Zacara celebrated their successful defense of the US Open trophy.
Pieres led all scoring with an incredible 12 goals, nine on penalty shots, and was named MVP. Laprida added three goals and Azzaro scored once. Torres led the Valiente attack with six goals (four on penalties). Cambiaso scored two of his four goals on penalty shots. Stirling scored twice and Jornayvaz added a goal in a losing effort.
Bob Jornayvaz’s Medallion (played by Stirling) was named Best Playing Pony while Corcha, a seven-year-old American Thoroughbred Bay mare was named Horse of the Year.