Faraway takes Hall of Fame Cup with overtime win

By Alex Webbe

In a nip-and-tuck match that saw the score tied six times in the course of the game, a
goal from Matias Magrini in the opening seconds of the overtime chukker lifted Faraway
to an 11-10 overtime win over Piaget Thursday afternoon at the International Polo club
in Wellington.

Nacho Badiola scored the first goal of the game for Piaget by Faraway responded
with goals from 9-goaler Santiago Chavanne and a 60-yard penalty conversion from
American 8-goaler Nic Roldan. Faraway took the early 2-1 lead after the first chukker of
play.

Three more Faraway goals (two from Roldan and a single goal from Chavanne) were
countered by a pair of goals from Piaget 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres. Two chukkers into
the game had Faraway ahead, 5-3.

Badiola cut into the Faraway lead with a goal from the field to open the third, 5-4,
followed by a goal from the field from Piaget team captain Melissa Ganzi to tie it up at 5-
5. Roldan closed out the first half with his fourth goal of the game as he converted a 60-
yard Safety got the go-ahead goal, 6-5.

Piaget bounced back in the fourth chukker with goals from Pieres and Badiola while
shutting down the Faraway attack. With two chukkers left in regulation time, Faraway
found themselves trailing, 7-6.

A 60-yard penalty conversion from Argentine 9-goaler Nacho Novillo Astrada extended
the Piaget lead to two goals, 8-6, when Faraway took control of the game. Chavanne
cut the lead to a single goal, 8-7, with a goal from the field and Matias Magrini tied it up
at 8-8 with his first goal of the day. A final goal from Chavanne ended the chukker with
Faraway back on top, 9-8.

Sixth chukker action had Pieres knotting it up at 9-9, and Astrada gave the lead back
to Piaget, 10-9, with a goal from the field. With time running out and the pressure on,
Roldan tied it up with his fifth goal of the match to force sudden-death overtime.

Forty-five seconds into overtime, a charge toward the Piaget goal succeeded with
Magrini tapping the ball through for the winning goal in an 11-10 Faraway victory.

Roldan set the pace with five goals on the day and was named MVP. Chavanne
accounted for four goals and Magrini scored twice in the win. Pieres led the Piaget
attack with four goals, Badiola scored three times; Astrada was credited with two goals

and Ganzi scored once in a losing effort.

Roldan’s horse, ME, was honored as Best Playing Pony.

• < Prev
• Next >