Chris Nevins opened the scoring on the day with a goal for Mt. Brilliant that accounted for all of the opening chukker’s offense as defensive plays and errant shots at goal dominated the opening minutes of play.

Carlos Avendano scored the tying goal for Patagones, 1-1, in the second chukker before  penalty conversions from Carlos Gracida and Julio Gracida ended the chukker with Mt. Brilliant trailing 3-1.

Carlos Gracida scored from the field to make it 4-1, Patagones when the Mt. Brilliant attack finally got started.  A goal from the field was scored by Francisco Irastoza followed by another goal from Santiago Chavanne, and Mt. Brilliant climbed back into the game trailing by a single goal, 4-3, at halftime.

Play got choppy and fouls were whistled.  All five goals scored in the chukker came as the result of penalties, with Patagones scoring three times and Mt. Brilliant managing just two.   Patagones stretched it lead to 7-5 on the strength of two penalty conversions from Carlos Gracida and a third penalty goal from nephew Julio Gracida.  Irastoza converted both of the penalty shots for Mt. Brilliant.

The fifth chukker opened with a successful penalty shot by Irastoza, but then it was all Patagones.  Three consecutive goals from the field were scored by Julio Gracida, Carlos Gracida and Carlos Avendano as Patagones jumped out to a 10-6 lead.  Mt. Brilliant struggled to get its offense on track, but was shut out for the remainder of the chukker.  Patagones led by four goals with one last chukker, seven minutes left in the game.

The final chukker opened with Carlos Gracida intercepting a Mt. Brilliant pass and carrying it over 150 yards down the field before lofting a perfect pass to Julio Gracida for a goal.  Julio followed that up with another penalty goal, and Carlos Gracida’s sixth goal of the game put Patagones in front 13-6.  A last ditch effort by Mt. Brilliant resulted in a foul which afforded the trailing team a final penalty goal in the 13-7 loss to Patagones.

Carlos Gracida led all scoring with six goals.  Julio Gracida scored five times and Carlos Avendano added two goals for the win.

Irastorza scored five times for Mt. Brilliant while getting single goals from teammates Chavanne and Nevins.

Ylvisaker Cup play will continue on Sunday, January 31 with three games being played.  At 10 am, Faraway Polo (0-2) faces the Hawks (1-0); at noon, Lechuza Caracas (2-0) meets Lucchese (2-0); and at 3 pm, the Wanderers/Isla Carroll will battle last week’s Joe Barry Memorial Cup champion, Zacara (1-0).

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Daily News Polo Columnist

The first round of the Ylvisaker Cup saw three more games take place on Sunday with The Wanderers/Isla Carroll taking the early game from Patagones 11-7 followed by a one goal Lechuza win over Yellow Cab and a Lucchese victory at the expense of Faraway Polo.

In a 10 am game that started a full day of polo at the International Polo Club in Wellington, The Wanderers/Isla Carroll rode out to a 6-3 halftime score on their way to an 11-7 win over a struggling Patagones team.

Kris Kampsen scored a team high five goals for The Wanderers (1-0) in the win while getting a pair of goals from Sugar Erskine and four goals from the field from Nacho Figueras.

Carlos Gracida had a game high six goals on the day.  Gonzalo Avendano added a goal in the Patagones (0-1)loss.

LUCCHESE 16, FARAWAY POLO 11

Luis Escobar scored seven of his game leading ten goals as Lucchese (1-0) beat Faraway Polo (0-1) 16-11 in each of the team’s Ylvisaker Cup opener.

Faraway took an early 4-2 lead, but Lucchese fought back to tie the game, 5-5, at the end of the second chukker.  The third chukker saw each team produce three goals for an 8-8 halftime score, but that was where the parity ended.

Lucchese took the field in the fourth period and quickly put four goals on the scoreboard while holding Faraway scoreless.  The determined Lucchese team left the field with a 12-8 edge, and with Faraway struggling for answers.

“This team has great chemistry”, said team captain John Muse, the owner of the fabled Lucchese boot company.  Faraway is a very good team,” he added, “and I think this was a good test for us to open the tournament.”

Faraway scratched their way back into the game in the fifth chukker, with three goals from Pelon Escapite.  Lucchese was held to a single penalty conversion from Luis Escobar as they maintained the lead, 13-11.

Lucchese sealed the fate of the game in the final period with two goals from Pancho Bensadon and Escobar’s tenth goal of the game.  Julian managed the only goal of the final chukker for Faraway (9-1) in the 16-12 Lucchese (1-0) win.

LECHUZA CARACAS 13, YELLOW CAB 12

Yellow Cab’s Tommy Biddle led the field with seven goals, but it was the balanced attack of Lechuza Caracas that carried the day in a 13-12 Ylvisaker Cup win Sunday afternoon.

The veteran Lechuza Caracas (1-0) lineup led by as many as seven goals in the course of the game before Yellow Cab (0-1) drove themselves back into competition in the last two chukkers of play.

“I thought the team played great,” said Biddle of the Yellow Cab lineup, “it’s only our first tournament game, and hopefully we’ll continue to improve as the season moves along.”

Tournament action continues on Wednesday, Jan. 27 with three games.  Bendabout (1-0) will face Zacara (0-0) at 11am followed by a 1 pm contest between Lucchese (1-0) and Yellow Cab (0-1).  Mt. Brilliant (0-1) will close out the day with a game against The Wanderers/Isla Carroll at 3 pm.

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Daily News Polo columnist

Kris Kampsen scored a game-high eight goals for The Wanderers/Isla Carroll, but it was the balanced attack of Patagones that earned it a berth in Sunday’s Iglehart Cup finals on the strength of the 16-14 win Wednesday afternoon at the International Polo Club in Wellington..

“We just had to correct what we were doing wrong”, said Carlos Avendano of the team’s comeback victory.  “We had to stay disciplined and hold our positions,” he added.

Patagones got off to an early 3-0 lead on the strength of two goals from Julio Gracida and a single goal from Carlos Avendano before The Wanderers could respond.  Single goals from Nacho Figueras and Kris Kampsen ended the chukker with Patagones ahead 3-2.

Figueras tied it to open the second period, and Kampsen put The Wanderers on top with his second goal of the game.  Gonzalo Avendano answered for Patagones with a goal before goals from Kampsen and Sugar Erskine had The Wanderers on top 6-4.

The Wanderers continued to pound the Patagones defense in the third chukker, getting two more goals from Kampsen and another from Erskine.  Patagones got single goals from brothers Carlos and Gonzalo Avendano, but trailed at halftime 9-6.

“We decided that we just needed to get back to basics,” said Patagones 8-goaler Carlos Gracida.  “We stopped asking Gonzalo (Avendano) to cover the higher rated players and just to stay out in front of the lineup.”  The strategy began to work as Patagones cut the lead to a pair of goals at the end of the fourth chukker, 11-9.

Kampsen opened the fifth period with consecutive goals to give The Wanderers a 13-9 advantage, but three straight goals from Patagones made it a one-goal game, with The Wanderers holding on to a 13-12 edge.

Carlos Gracida tied it to open the sixth chukker, and after that Patagones never trailed.  Julio Gracida closed out the Patagones scoring with two straight goals in the 16-14 win, putting them against the Hawks in Sunday’s 2010 Iglehart Cup finals on Sunday at 3 pm.

Kampsen led all scorers with eight goals.  Erskine added four goals and Figueras scored twice in the loss.

Julio Gracida scored five times for Patagones.  Brothers Gonzalo and Carlos Avendano scored four goals apiece, and Carlos Gracida added three in the win.

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