There was a big change in the lineup as Adolfo C. was unable to play due to a family problem, so young Jeta Castagnola took his place, who is one of the best young players in the world, but he’s not AC yet. He along side 2 very good, young guns Peke Gonzalez and Lucas Criado Jr.
The war started quick as young Jason Waites of Park Place was hot out of the gate, and kept Peke and Lucas, who destroy defenses with speed and tactics, unable to do so early on. Jeta tried a little too hard to control the game and ball, and resulted with Valiente tying the 1st chukkar with a handicap point, losing the 2nd by 1, the 3rd by 2, going into half time down 7 to 4.
The second half was a different game as everyone on Valiente started passing and definitely making up for the first half. They won the 4th chukkar 2 to 1, and the 5th 3 to 2. They went into the 6th, down by one (10 to 9), and with 2 minutes left in the game, they went ahead for the first time, and then scored one more to take them to the finals, 12-10. Park Place was a bit off in the 2nd half–missing about 8 goal shots. But they never gave up.
All in all it was a fairly clean game as I think there were 19 fouls– 9 by Park Place and 10 by Valiente, with 4 out of the 5 #4 penalties missed all by the big sticks.
Stay tuned for the next semi-final report to see who will be taking on Valiente in the finals!
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