Pilot won against Tamera by a score of 11-9 in the U.S. Open Polo Championship at National Polo Center on Sunday 14th April in a key match to define who would take the third Semi-final spot, joining Valiente and La Dolfina.
A win for Pilot meant a guaranteed spot in the semis and a win for Tamera would give them a second chance to compete to stay in the tournament.
The match started goal for goal. Pilot replying each time Tamera scored but despite an even scoring average of 50% going into halftime, Pilot were making more opportunities and went into the fourth chukka with a 3 goal advantage. More accurate from the penalty line, they remained ahead throughout the game and despite strategic, attacking plays from Mackenzie Weisz, which saw him taking on 10 goaler Facundo Pieres and scoring to score 5 goals, Tamera were unable to catch up.
Pilot will play Valiente on the 17th in the second Semi-final of the day.
The Teams:
Chukka Breakdown:
Score Progression:
Game Statistics:
Our featured player of the match Alejandro Poma showed skills in the match up against Pilot including:
- Offside forehand
- Correct positioning
- Accuracy in front of goal
Check out this video of him finishing team combination plays with goals:
Selected Match Highlights:
Facundo Pieres taps the ball in the air to score a goal from a well executed team combination play with Antonio Heguy off the back of a set play:
Antonio Heguy with the neckshot pass to Facundo Pieres who gets control of the ball before shooting at the goal: