Wheels Come Off Audi in PCO
By Alex Webbe
The Santa Barbara Polo Club celebrated its 100th anniversary with the kick off of the 2009 Pacific Coast Open Sunday afternoon before an enthusiast Southern California crowd and there were upsets aplenty.
Perhaps the biggest shock of the day was Grants Farm’s 17-13 win over Audi in the 1pm contest that saw Grants Farm take control of the game early and not give up.
The defending 2009 PCO Audi team was shocked in the opening match of the tournament after coming off of its recent America Cup championship as it struggled to right itself throughout the game.
Paced by nine goals from Jeff Hall, Grants Farm jumped out to an 8-6 halftime lead before pouring fuel on the fire.
Sugar Erskine converted two penalty goals in the fourth chukker and added a single goal from the field to give Grants Farm a11-7 advantage, holding Audi to a single penalty goal from Kris Kampsen.
Single goals from Kampsen and Luis Escobar kept Audi in the scoring column in the fifth but two more goals from Hall and Andy Busch’s second goal of the match had Grants Farm ahead 14-9 with a chukker left to play.
Escobar scored his fourth goal of the game; Juan Bollini added a goal and Kampsen accounted for two more in the sixth period for Audi (0-1), but it was a case of too little too late. Three more goals from Hall in the chukker iced the game for Grants Farm (1-0), 17-13.
Hall led all scoring with nine goals on the day, scoring five from the field and four on penalty shots.
Kampsen led the Audi effort with eight goals, scoring an equal number from the field and on penalty shots.
ZACARA 9, LUCCHESE 8
In earlier action, Zacara (1-0), got on tract by scoring a 9-8 victory over the 2009 USPA America Cup finalist, Lucchese (0-1).
Nicolas Pieres provided the firepower for Zacara, accounting for six goals to break the 6-6 halftime tie and charge to victory in the morning contest. Miguel Astrada accounted for three goals on the day as a defensively oriented second half saw little scoring by either team.
The win was Zacara’s first since the California high-goal season, and puts them right in the thick of the PCO competition.
Mike Azzaro led the Lucchese team with five goals.
PATAGONES 10, ERG 8
Carlos Gracida scored eight times to lead Patagones (1-0) back into the fray, scoring a 10-8 win over a talented but ineffective ERG (0-1) lineup that saw them held to a single goal in the final two chukkers of play.
Patagones jumped out to a 3-0 start on the strength of three goals from Gracida before settling into a 5-4 halftime advantage.
ERG took the lead in the fourth, 7-6, on the strength of two goals from Paco de Narvaez and a single goal from Gonzalo Deltour with a single Gracida goal accounting for the Patagones offense.
Another goal from de Narvaez made it 8-6 ERG, but that would be where it would end.
Two more goals from Gracida had it all even at the end of the fifth and shutout defense coupled with single goals from Brandon Phillips and Gracida’s eight goal of the match salted the win away for Patagones, 10-8.
MANSOUR 12, VALIENTE 10
The feature match of the day showcased two of the tournament’s struggling entries, as Ben Soleimani’s Mansour (1-0) foursome rallied to take a 12-10 contest from Valiente (0-1).
Valiente started strong behind the capable leadership of Nacho Astrada, building up a 7-5 lead after the first three chukkers, but Mansour continued to press the game into the second half.
Martin Zegers scored his fifth and sixth goals of the match in a three-goal fourth chukker (Adam Snow scored the third goal of the period). Astrada tied it at 9-9 to end the period, but the final chukker was all Mansour.
Goals from Snow, Santiago Trotz and Soleimani made it 12-9 in the final minutes of play before Carlucho Arellano’s third goal of the game ended the scoring with Mansour on top of a 12-10 game.
Pacific Coast Open action will continue on Thursday, August 27 when Audi (0-1) meets Mansour (1-0); followed by games between Grants Farm (1-0) and Valiente (0-1); Lucchese (0-1) and ERG (0-1); and Zacara (1-0) and Patagones (1-0).
The finals are scheduled to be played on Sunday, September 6th.