Maserati Miami Beach World Cup opens with a bang

Yellow Cab flexes muscles in beach polo’s opening day

By
Alex Webbe

Wins by the Maserati polo team (Lance Vetter, Wesley
Finlayson, Guille Usandizaga and Facundo Obregon), The Raleigh (Bash Kazi, John
Gobin and Gringo Colombres) and the team from Yellow Cab (Simon Garber, Juan
Monteverde and Kris Kampsen) all scored opening wins on the first day of the
2012 Maserati Miami Beach Polo World Cup on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean in
Miami Beach.

The defending championship Raleigh team opened the day
with a 9-6 win over Lufthansa Private Jet (Tommy Kato, Craig Pirtle, Jamie
Morrison and Luis Escobar).

Colombres scored the first two goals of the day for The
Raleigh while Lufthansa Private Jet was shut out offensively.  At the end of the first chukker, The Raleigh
had a 2-0 advantage. 

English 7-goaler Jamie Morrison scored on three penalty
shots for Lufthansa Private Jet in the second chukker, but a two-point goal
from Gobin and a third goal from Colombres had The Raleigh ahead 5-3 at the end
of the first half.

Morrison added another penalty goal and Escobar converted
twice from the penalty line.  The Raleigh
got three more goals from Colombres (once from the field and twice on penalty
shots).  The Raleigh continued to lead,
8-6.

The Raleigh ratcheted up its defense in the final chukker
for shutout play while picking up another goal from Gobin for the 9-6 final.

Colombres led all scoring with six goals.  Gobin accounted for three goals in the
win.  Morrison led the Lufthansa Private
Jet attack with four goals, all penalty shots). 
Escobar converted two penalty shots for goals.

YELLOW
CAB 15, GASCON 11

Gascon caught a heavily favored Yellow Cab team off guard
in the second game of the day, matching them goal for goal with the first
chukker ending in a 4-4 tie.  Kampsen
displayed his knowledge of the surface with four first chukker goals (three on
penalty shots).  Lindor Novillo Corvalan
converted a penalty shot for a goal and added another goal from the field.  George Olivas scored a pair of goals to knot
it up.

Yellow Cab charged back into the second chukker with two
more penalty goals from Kampsen. 
Corvalan picked up a single goal for Gascon.  A strong Yellow Cab team left the field with
a 7-5 advantage.

Corvalan scored two more goals from the field in the
fourth and added a penalty goal.  Kampsen
responded with a goal from the field as well as a two-pointer.  After three chukkers, Yellow Cab held a 10-8
lead. 

Corvalan cut into the Yellow Cab lead, 10-9, with the
opening goal of the fourth chukker.  Kampsen
responded with three straight goals for a 13-9 Yellow Cab lead.  A two-pointer from Corvalan had Gascon
trailing 13-11, but that was when yellow Cab took control.  Simon Garber and Kampsen closed out the
scoring with single goals in the 15-11 victory.

Kampsen led all scoring with 13 goals (five on penalty
shots, one two-pointer).  Monteverde and
Garber added single goals in the win.

Corvalan led the Gascon attack with nine goals (three
penalty goals and one two-pointer). 
Olivas added two goals in a losing effort.

MASERATI
12, HEYS USA/SLS JETS

In the final match of the day, Maserati held on to
outlast Heys USA/SLS JETS 12-11 in a game that saw Heys USA score three
two-pointers.

Facundo Obregon scored the opening goal of the game for
Maserati, but Heys USA picked up a pair of penalty goals from Brandon
Phillips.  At the end of the first
chukker Heys USA led, 2-1.

Maserati showed the horsepower in the second period,
shutting down the Heys attack while putting four goals on the scoreboard.  A penalty goal from Obregon and three goals
from Guille Usandizaga (one penalty goal) gave the momentum to Maserati.  The chukker ended with Maserati moving ahead,
5-2.

Phillips added three more penalty goals to the Heys USA
total in the third, but Obregon matched him goal for goal (two from the field
and one on a penalty shot).  Usandizaga
added a goal from the field for a 9-5 edge.

Heys USA’s first points from the field came from Roldan
in the fourth when he scored a two-pointer. 
Phillips added two more two-pointers, but a penalty goal from Obregon
and a pair of goals from the field from Usandizaga held off the rally for a
12-11 victory.

Usandizaga and Obregon scored six goals apiece for
Maserati.  Phillips rang up nine points
for Heys Luggage.  Roldan got credit for
two goals on his 2-point goal from the field.

At the end of the first day Maserati, Yellow Cab and The
Raleigh had 1-0 records.