Pacific Coast Open semifinals

Piaget to meet Lucchese in Open finals

By Alex Webbe
 

Piaget wasted little time picking up two goals from Miguel Astrada and a single
goal from Jason Crowder to move out to an early 3-0 start. Two penalty goals from
Gonzalito Pieres got Audi back on track, but it was Piaget that was leaving the field with
a 3-2 advantage.

Crowder added three more goals in the second (two on penalty shots, one from the
field). Pieres came back with a pair of penalty goals for Audi and at the end of two
chukkers Piaget extended its lead to two goals, 6-4.

Astrada and Juan Bollini ran the score to 8-4, Piaget. Pieres converted a penalty shot
to end the first half as Audi trailed at the end of the first half, 8-5.

Astrada opened the fourth chukker with a 60-yard penalty conversion for a goal.
Carlitos Gracida responded for Audi with a goal from the field. Consecutive penalty
goals from Carlos Gracida brought Audi to within a goal of Piaget, 9-8, but Astrada’s
fifth goal of the contest left Piaget with a 10-8, two goal advantage with two chukkers left
to play.

The fifth chukker belonged to Piaget with Bollini opening the period with a goal from
the field. Two goals from Crowder were complimented by shutout defense and Piaget
found itself on top of a 13-8 score.

Sixth chukker goals from Carlitos Gracida and Pieres were offset by Crowder’s seventh
and eighth goals and Piaget celebrated the 15-10 victory and an appointment with
Lucchese in the finals of the 2011 Bombardier Pacific Coast Open.

LUCCHESE 16, ERG 15

Earlier in the day the 2010 Pacific coast Open defending championship Lucchese team
jumped out to a 9-6 halftime lead before holding on to beat ERG 16-15 to earn a return
to the Pacific Coast Open finals.

Sebastian Merlos converted a pair of 40-yard penalty shots to give ERG an early 2-0
lead. Adolfo Cambiaso and Jeff Blake responded with penalty goals of their own for a
2-2 tie. Merlos came back with a goal from the field for ERG with Julio scoring the final
goal of the chukker for a 3-3 tie.

Second chukker goals from Gracida and Cambiaso put Lucchese in front, 5-3. Merlos
scored the final goal of the period, but ERG trailed 5-4.

Paco de Narvaez tied it up for ERG with a goal from the field to open the third chukker.
Jeff Blake converted two penalty goals for Lucchese followed by field goals from
Cambiaso and Gracida. De Narvaez closed out the scoring with his second goal of the
chukker and the first half ended with Lucchese leading by three goals, 9-6.

De Narvaez and Cambiaso exchanged goals in the fourth. Gracida converted a penalty
shot to give Lucchese an 11-7 lead. ERG scored three consecutive goals to trail 11-10,
but a final penalty goal from Blake ended the period with Lucchese holding on to a 12-
10, two goal lead.

Miguelito Torres scored two goals in the fifth for ERG, but a goal from Gracida kept
Lucchese in front, 13-12. Gracida and Cambiaso added single goals and the fifth
chukker left Lucchese in front, 15-12.

ERG won the final chukker, 3-1, but that isn’t how the game is played. With a three
goal lead, Lucchese gave up a goal to de Narvaez before answering with a goal from
Cambiaso. Two final goals from Merlos brought ERG close, but when the final horn
sounded it was Lucchese with the 16-15 win.

Merlos led all scoring with seven goals. De Narvaez added six goals and Torres
accounted for two in the loss.

Gracida and Cambiaso scored six goals apiece for Lucchese. Blake added four goals
in a winning effort.

The victory returns John Muse’s Lucchese team to the Bombardier Pacific Coast Open
finals on Sunday where they will meet Piaget.

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