Audi captures title in OT - by IPC

Hall of famer Gonzalo Pieres never won a U.S. Open, but today, his dream came true as he watched his sons, Nicolas, Gonzalito and Facundo Pieres bring it home for Wellington’s own Audi, as they captured the U.S. Open, defeating Las Monjitas 9-8 in sudden death overtime at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

“We feel very fortunate to have won today. It’s my first open that I’ve ever played in so I feel like I’ve struck fools gold a little bit,” said team captain and Wellington resident Marc Ganzi. “Today was a culmination of hard work, planning and a dream and it’s a great ending.”

This was a storybook ending for the Audi team, who trailed by four goals, at the end of the second chukker 5-1.

“We were really surprised at their marking and their game plan…when we got behind by four we said we gotta play their game plan,” added Ganzi. Ganzi also dedicated the win to his friend Victor Vargas, owner of the Lechuza Caracas team, who lost 21 of their horses.

Prior to the start of today’s match a moment of silence was held and a bell was rung 21 times in honor of the fallen horses. “This game is definitely a tribute to Victor, he’s a friend. I’m very confident that team will regroup and be back here next year.”

Audi changed their game plan in the third chukker and scored two from the field and capitalized on a field goal, ending the half 7-5.

“We changed a little bit, we moved me to back and we said, listen we gotta go one goal at a time. We got lucky,” said Ganzi. His team trailed by one goal during the fourth and fifth periods and with just over a minute in regulation play remaining, Audi’s Facundo Pieres tied the match at eight. Pieres, who scored seven of the team’s 9 goals, also scored the winning goal in overtime.

There’s so much organization and planning that went into this team a year ago and to have it all come together, it’s a dream come true,” added Ganzi.