Cortium and Zacara Advance to Queens Cup Semifinals

By Alex Webbe

First chukker play was tenuous for both Cortium (Adrian Kirby, Chris Mackenzie, Francisco Elizalde and Eduardo Novillo Astrada) and Talandracas (Edouard Carmignac, Juan Jauretche, Lucas James and Juan Martin Nero) in the opening chukker of their quarterfinal play in the 2013 Cartier Queens Cup at the Guards Polo Club. Cortium took the early lead, 2-1, will all three first chukker goals coming on penalty shots.

Both defenses held solid in second chukker play. Cortium and Talandracas each scored a single goal. Cortium held its narrow one goal lead, 3-2.

There was no letup in the third. Once again the teams exchanged goals. At the end of the first half Cortium continued to lead, 4-3.

A determined Talandracas team took the field in the fourth and scored two goals to open goal for Cortium in the early going to tie it up at 5-5. Cortium got back on track, however, outscoring Talandracas 3-1 in the final minutes of the chukker for an 8-6 advantage with two chukkers left to play.

Both teams pressed the opposing defenses in the fifth. Two goals by Cortium were answered by a single goal from Talandracas. The fifth chukker ended with Cortium extending its lead to three goals, 10-7 with one chukker left in regulation play.

Talandracas staged a late game rally, coming up with two unanswered goals in the final chukker of play, but it was not enough. Cortium staved off the heroics of Juan Martin Nero and company and send Edouard Carmignac’s team packing in a 10-9 victory. The win will pit Cortium against El Remanso (Ali Patterson, George Hanbury, Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera) in Wednesday’s 5pm semifinal match.

ZACARA 11, LES LIONS 10 in OT

In one of the most exciting games in the 2013 Cartier Queens Cup, Zacara (Lyndon Lea, Matt Perry, Facundo Pieres and Rodrigo Andrade) took the initial lead over Les Lions (Henry Fisher, Agustin Merlos, Sebastian Merlos and Joachim Gottschalk) in the last quarterfinal of the day but needed a penalty goal in overtime from Facundo Pieres to make their way to the tournament semifinals on the wings of an 11-10 win.

After a first chukker one goal lead, 2-1, both offenses kicked in as the second period got underway. The two teams traded goals throughout the chukker, each scoring three times. At the end of two chukkers, it was Zacara maintaining the razor thin 0ne goal lead, 5-4.

Les Lions were determined not to let this one slip past them. In an effort to improve on their last meeting with Zacara (a one-goal loss), they ramped up their offense and tied it up at 6-6 to close out the third chukker. The two teams would leave the field for a brief halftime intermission to regroup for the final three chukkers of the game.

The Merlos brothers led the Les Lions defense that held Facundo Pieres and Zacara scoreless in the fourth chukker. A single Les Lions goal gave them a 7-6, one goal lead with two chukkers left in regulation time.

Fifth chukker play saw the two teams trade goals, with Les Lions scoring twice to Zacara’s two goals. With seven-and-a-half minutes left in regulation time, Les Lions are holding on to a narrow 9-8 advantage.

Zacara scored the first two goals of the sixth chukker, tying it at 9-9 and then taking the lead, 10-9. Henry fisher tied it up again at 10-10 for Les Lions to force the sudden-death overtime.

Facundo Pieres scored the winning goal in overtime for the 11-10 win and a date to meet Dubai in Wednesday’s 3pm semifinals. This was the second time this year that the two teams met; Les Lions losing both of them by a single goal.