Prisa Invitational finals set with Paladin win

Paladincontrols Beluga in a 12-9 Prisa Invitational win

By Alex Webbe

Paladin (David Krantz, Leo Mandelbaum, Nic Roldan and JuanBollini) ran up an 8-4 halftime lead over Beluga (Misha Rodzianko, CarlitosGracida, Brandon Phillips and Joey Casey) before holding on for a 12-9 win inthe opening round of play in the Grand Champions Polo Club’s 2013 PrisaInvitational.

Played on the grounds of the Palm City Polo Club in BocaRaton, Beluga received one goal by handicap from the 15-goal Paladin lineup andwatched helplessly as Paladin scored three consecutive goals n them for a 3-1lead.  Leo Mandelbaum led the scoringparade followed by single goals from Nic Roldan and David Krantz.  Carlitos Gracida stopped the slide with achukker closing goal for Beluga.  Afterthe first chukker Paladin had the lead, 3-2.

Three more Paladin goals opened the second period withKrantz, Roldan and Mandelbaum each scoring their second goal of the match.  Misha Rodzianko got Beluga on the scoreboard,but Paladin was ahead by three, 6-3.

Goals by Krantz and Mandelbaum extended the Paladin lead tofive goals in the third, 8-3.  Gracidaended the chukker with his second goal on the day.  Paladin rode off the field at the end of thefirst half on the winning end of an 8-4 score.

Goals were scarce in the fourth as both teams doubled downon their defensive efforts.  Rodziankoscored the only goal of the period, cutting the Paladin lead to three goals,8-5.

Rodzianko scored two more goals in the fifth and teammateJoey Casey scored his first goal of the day to draw Beluga within a goal of thelead.  Mandelbaum scored Paladin’s onlygoal of the chukker to maintain a narrow 9-8 edge.

Paladin took the field with a sense of authority in thesixth chukker.  Once again Paladin rackedup three consecutive goals from three different players.  Mandelbaum opened the chukker with his fifthgoal of the game.  Roldan and Krantzfollowed up with goals and Paladin found themselves in possession of a fourgoal lead, 12-8.  Brandon Phillips scoredthe final goal of the game in the closing seconds of play, but it was Paladinwith the win, 12-9. 

Mandelbaum led all scoring with five goals.  Krantz added four goals and Roldan scored
three times for the victory.  Rodzianko’s
four goals led the Beluga attack. 
Gracida scored twice with Phillips and Casey adding single goals in a
losing effort.

The victory places Paladin in Sunday’s 10:30 AM tournament
finals against Newport (Gene Goldstein, Guille Aguero, Luis Escobar and Marc Ganzi)
on the grounds of the Palm City Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida.