By: Rebecca Baldridge
Photos by ChukkerTV
In the first match at McClure River Ranch’s Field One, La Karina (Lauren Sherry, Brian Boyd, Juancito Bollini and Horacio Heguy) faced off against Mountain Chevolet (Michael Payne, Alex Gooding, Pablo Spinacci, and John Bickford). Scores were carried over from Friday’s play.
La Karina started the chukker with 5 goals on the board, while Mountain Chevrolet was behind at 1. Lauren Sherry scored an impressive first goal, taking the ball on a breakaway and losing it briefly before picking up the loose ball and scoring with a cut shot from the right. Juancito Bollini scored a second goal for La Karina, and Alex Gooding knocked one in for Mountain Chevrolet. La Karina couldn’t get on goal during the second chukker, but John Bickford scored to end the chukker at 7-3 in favor of La Karina. La Karina’s Boyd scored on a penalty in the final chukker, while Mountain Chevrolet’s Bickford and Spinacci held up the side for their team. La Karina defeated Mountain Chevrolet 8-5.
Mountain Chevrolet started their second match against McClure River Ranch (Alejandra Foster, Gussie Busch, Stewart Armstrong, and Juan Bollini) with two goals on the board, while McClure River Ranch was in the lead with four. The first chukker started out on an even footing, with Stewart Armstrong scoring two goals while Bickford and Payne put two on the board for Mountain Chevrolet. The second chukker went less well for Mountain Chevrolet, as McClure River kept them away from the posts while Alejandra Foster and Stewart Armstrong each found the goal and Juan Bollini swatted one in on a penalty 6. Goals by Gussie Busch and Micheal Payne ended the match at 10-5 with a victory for McClure River Ranch.
The last game of the Classic saw La Karina, with 3 on the board, take on McClure River Ranch with 4. La Karina was successful in keeping the team in burgundy away from the goal in the first chukker, with Juancito Bollini swatting in the first goal of the day for La Karina. The tables were turned in the second chukker, with La Karina unable to reach the goal. Stewart Armstrong and Alejandra Foster each scored for McClure River Ranch. The final chukker was a frustrating exercise in charging up and down the field to little effect, as neither team was able to get on goal. McClure River prevailed by 6-4 to take the tournament title based on cumulative round robin scores. Gussie Busch was the MVP, and Colt M4, played by Horacio Heguy, was the Best Playing Pony.
In the Just for the Fun of It final, Los Amigos (Paul Foster, Pedro Romero, Pablo MacDonough and Tincho Merlos) met La Indiana (Michael Bickford, Nic Roldan, Marc Ganzi, and Jared Zenni) on Field One at McClure River Ranch. La Indiana’s Marc Ganzi scored the first goal of the match following a coast-to-coast run from the knock-in. Los Amigos couldn’t make any headway, and the chukker ended 1-0. In Chukker Two, MacDonough scored on a penalty 4, followed by a goal for La Indiana by Michael Bickford. Some foul weather rolled in during the second chukker, interrupting ChukkerTV’s coverage of the match. Play continued nonetheless, and the half ended 5-2 for La Indiana.
Despite threatening skies, play carried on and Tinch Merlos scored the first goal of the second half on a penalty two while holding off La Indiana’s attempts to get on goal. Zenni brought the score up to 6 for La Indiana in Chukker Five, with Paul Foster following up to end the chukker 4-6 with La Indiana in the lead. Los Amigos fought back hard in the sixth. MacDonough found the goal, and Paul Foster put one through the posts to tie it up at 6 all. Michael Bickford came through for his team, scoring for La Indiana to win the match at 7-6. Bickford was the high scorer for the day, with 4 goals.
In the Just for the Fun of It runner-up match, White Claw (Melissa Ganzi, Vinny Sangaline, Alejandro Novillo-Astrada, and Juan Martin Nero) took on Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Polito Pieres, Ale Poma, and Nacho Novillo Astrada). Jeff Hildebrand scored the first goal for Tonkawa, while White Claw’s attempts to get on the board were thwarted. Another goal by Hildebrand brought the score to 2-0, but Ganzi and Ale Novillo-Astrada scored to leave things tied up at chukker end. Two more goals by Ganzi in the third put White Claw up to 4, while Tonkawa’s Ale Poma knocked one in to end the half at 4-3 for White Claw. Melissa Ganzi was the high scorer of the day with 6 goals.
Melissa Ganzi came back on fire in the fourth chukker, scoring three goals, while White Claw’s strong defense held off Tonkawa. The fifth chukker saw a reversal as Tonkawa poured on the steam, with two goals from Pieres and another from Hildebrand. The sixth chukker saw both teams frustrated, with neither scoring, and White Claw defeated Tonkawa 7-6.