Wins by Audi and FlexJet set the stage for Sunday’s semifinals
By Alex Webbe
Both Travieso (Tony Calle, Jesse Bray, Facundo Obregon and J.J. Celis) and Audi (Marc Ganzi, Jeff Blake, Sugar Erskine and Carlucho Arellano) entered Friday morning’s USPA National Twenty-goal game at the Grand Champions Polo club with 1-1 records, and had already qualified for the tournament’s Wednesday semifinals. The third team in the bracket, Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Julio Arellano and Brad Blake), had been eliminated with two losses and no wins, making the morning’s match little more than a practice game.
“It’s pretty much just for the horses,” said Travieso 6-goaler Facundo Obregon. “”Just take it easy and save the horses for Sunday’s semifinals.
From the opening throw-in it looked like much more than a “practice”.
Audi showed strength with a 14-11 win over Postage Stamp Farm and looked sharp in their Friday morning rom with Travieso.
Travieso received one goal by handicap from the 18-goal Audi lineup but did little to capitalize on the early lead. First chukker goals from Carlucho Arellano and Sugar Erskine were complimented by shutout defense. At the end of the opening chukker Audi was holding a 2-1 edge.
The Audi machine kept on rolling into the second period. After three-and-one-half scoreless minutes of play Arellano scored his second goal of the game, 3-1. Jeff Blake got on the scoreboard at the 2:20 mark, 4-1. Audi team captain Marc Ganzi found himself on the scoring end of a pass with 1:04 left in the chukker, 5-1. Tony Calle finally scored Travieso’s first goal from the field with 17 seconds on the clock to end the second chukker trailing Audi by three goals, 5-2.
Travieso jumped right back into the game in third period action. Calle took the opening throw-in 150-yards down the field for a goal with just 16 seconds off of the clock. Facundo Pieres scored his first goal of the day on a penalty shot that brought Travieso within a goal of the lead, 5-4, but Audi had yet to respond. Blake scored his second goal for Audi with 3:16 left in the chukker with what would be the final goal of the first half. Audi rode off the field leading by two goals, 6-4.
Arellano scored the first goal of the second half in the first 30 seconds of play, 7-4, with Jesse Bray countering with a goal for Travieso thirty seconds later, 7-5. The two teams raced up and down the field but shots went wide or were blocked and reversed. Erskine closed out the fourth chukker with a goal from the field to pad the Audi lead and give them a three goal advantage, 8-5.
Ganzi stretched the Audi lead to four goals, 9-5, 90 seconds into the fifth period. J.J. Celis answered back with a goal for Travieso. Audi maintained their three goal lead, 9-6, going into the final chukker in regulation play.
The Audi defense stepped it up in the sixth period, turning aside any Travieso effort to score. Following a throw-in from the sideboards at the 1:57 mark, Calle broke loose and added his third goal of the game, 9-7, but time was on the side of Audi. Calle scored the final goal of the game with ten seconds on the clock and Audi taking the 9-8 win.
Arellano led a balanced Audi attack with three goals. Ganzi, Erskine and Blake scored two goals apiece for the win. Calle scored four goals for Travieso. Celis, Obregon and Bray each added a goal and the team received one goal by handicap in the loss.
Flex Jet 9, Casablanca 8 OT
FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Nic Roldan and Juan Bollini) scored their second consecutive win in the 2015 USPA National Twenty-Goal Championship tournament Friday afternoon with an exciting 9-8 overtime win at the expense of a disappointed Casablanca lineup (Grant Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Jeff Hall and Guille Aguero).
Casablanca received one goal by handicap from the 18-goal FlexJet foursome but quickly eliminated the early edge with a pair of goals from Melissa Ganzi. The FlexJet held Casablanca scoreless and ended the chukker on top of a 2-1 score.
Defenses tightened up in the second period with Melissa Ganzi scoring her third goal of the game midway through the chukker, 3-1. Guille Aguero finally got a goal from the field on the scoreboard for Casablanca, ending the period trailing by a single goal, 3-2.
Goals were nowhere to be seen in third period play. Shots on goal went wide; saves were made; and defenses prevailed. FlexJet retained their one goal lead, 3-2, at the end of the first half.
Both teams continued to press the attack in the second half with Grant Ganzi converting a 30-yard penalty shot for a goal in the first thirty seconds of the fourth chukker. Jason Crowder countered with a goal from the field less than a minute later for a 4-3 FlexJet lead. A final effort by Hall came with 16 seconds on the clock and resulted in a goal that deadlocked the game again, 4-4 to end the chukker.
Grant Ganzi converted another 30-yard penalty shot in the opening 30 seconds of the fifth period for a 5-4 Casablanca lead. Hall took advantage of a throw-in following a delay of game infraction leveled against Audi by taking the ball from the throw-in and racing down the field for a goal and a two goal advantage, 6-4. Nic Roldan scored his first goal of the day on a 40-yard penalty conversion, 6-5, followed by a goal from the field from Crowder with just 40 seconds left in the chukker that leveled the score once again, 6-6.
With a 0-1 record, Casablanca needed a win to stay alive in the tournament, and outright win by FlexJet would not only assure them of a spot in Sunday’s semifinals but a number one seed in their bracket.
A FlexJet foul in the opening seconds of the sixth chukker sent Grant Ganzi to the 40-yard line where he converted the penalty shot that pushed Casablanca into the lead, 7-6. Melissa jumped all over Carlitos Gracida as he attempted to bring the ball in from the end line, stealing the ball and scoring her fourth goal of the match and tying the game again, 7-7. Roldan converted a 30-yard penalty shot with 3:04 left in regulation play, but Casablanca refused to go away. A last ditch effort by Casablanca 7-goaler Hall saw him take possession of the ball with 15 seconds on the clock , race down the field and score the tying goal, 8-8, with just four seconds remaining in regulation time.
After a brief intermission allowed for the players to retrieve fresh mounts for the sudden-death overtime chukker both teams returned to the field. It didn’t take long to decide the game with Roldan taking immediate control of the ball and galloping down the field for the winning goal and a berth in the tournament’s Sunday semifinals.
FlexJet team captain Melissa Ganzi led all scoring with four goals. Roldan was everywhere on the field and added three goals and Crowder scored twice. Grant Ganzi and Hall each scored three times. Aguero was credited with a goal and the team received one goal on handicap.
The semifinals of the 2015 USPA National Twenty-Goal Championship will feature FlexJet and Travieso in a 10am contest followed by a showdown between Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlucho Arellano, Sugar Erskine and Jeff Blake) and Barbarossa Leather (Julio Ezcurra, Leo Mandelbaum, Martin Estrada and Tommy Biddle) at noon. The tournament final will take place at the Grand Champions Polo Club on Wednesday, November 25th at 3pm. A subsidiary final is scheduled to be played at noon.
(Photo by Alex Pacheco)