Audi and Lucchese remain unbeaten in Bombardier Pacific Coast Open

Audi and
Lucchese remain unbeaten in Bombardier Pacific Coast Open

By Alex Webbe

Anyone who
was getting ready to count Adolfo Cambiaso out of the running in the 2011
Bombardier Pacific coast Open at the Santa Barbara Polo Club Sunday morning had
a rude awakening.

Playing
against a talented ERG foursome, Cambiaso’s eleven goals led his Lucchese team
to a decisive 16-10 win after charging off to a one-sided 11-1 halftime lead.

In a heavily
penalized contest, ERG’s Sebastian Merlos scored the first goal of the game on
a 60-yard penalty shot but had to watch with his teammates while Lucchese explode
for five consecutive goals.  An intense
offensive squeeze forced ERG players into committing fouls in an effort to keep
Lucchese from scoring.  Cambiaso
converted three 60-yard penalty shots and added a goal from the field.  Teammate Jeff Blake scored on a penalty shot
and Lucchese left the field after the first seven minutes of play with a 5-1
lead.

Cambiaso
provided all of the offense in the second chukker as the Lucchese offense
continued to roll.  Two goals from the
field and another goal gave Cambiaso an impressive seven goals after just two
chukkers of play.  Lucchese extended its
lead to 8-1 with a bewildered ERG team struggling to find answers.

Three more
Lucchese goals went unanswered in the third chukker.  Blake converted followed by a Cambiaso field
goal.  Blake tapped one in from the field
and the first half ended with Lucchese boasting an impressive 11-1 advantage.

Blake opened
the second half by converting a penalty shot for a goal followed by a goal from
the field from Julio Gracida.  Paco de
Narvaez finally broke the scoring drought for ERG with his first goal of the
game followed by a goal from teammate Miguel Torres.  Cambiaso closed out the fourth chukker
scoring with a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal and Lucchese stretched its lead
to eleven goals, 14-3.

De Narvaez
scored the first goal of the fifth period followed by a pair of goals from
Cambiaso.  De Narvaez, Merlos and Torres
responded with single goals, cutting the Lucchese lead to nine goals with one
chukker left in the game.

Merlos, de
Narvaez and Torres each scored a goal in the final chukker as Lucchese seemed
content to save their horses for another time. 
The final horn sounded with Lucchese on the winning end of a 16-10
score.

Cambiaso’s
eleven goals set the pace for Lucchese.  Blake
scored four times and Gracida added a goal in the winning effort.

De Narvaez
scored four goals for ERG.  Teammates
Merlos and Torres scored three times apiece in the loss.

 

The victory
improves the Lucchese record to 2-0 while ERG falls to 0-2.

GRANTS FARM 10, PIAGET 6

Grants Farm rebounded
from an opening round loss to Audi by beating Piaget 10-6 in Pacific coast Open
action. 

Jason
Crowder put Piaget on top, 1-0 with the only goal of the first chukker as both
teams looked for holes in the opposing defense.

A 60-yard
penalty conversion from Miguel Astrada and a goal from the field from Crowder
were countered by a single penalty conversion from Nic Roldan, and Piaget led
3-1 after the first two chukkers.

Grants Farm had
a new look as they rode onto the field in the third.  A tighter defense kept Piaget off of the
scoreboard while Roldan scored twice. 
The teams were tied at 3-3 at the end of the first half.

“They’re a
tough team,” offered Jeff Hall, “they’re very physical.  They made us work for the win today.”

Bollini put
Piaget ahead, 4-3, with a goal from the field in the fourth, but a pair of
goals from Hall ended the period with Grants Farm holding the reins on the
Piaget team and taking a 5-4 advantage.

Astrada tied
it at 5-5 with a penalty conversion in the fifth chukker before Roldan scored
his fourth goal of the game for Grants Farm to regain the lead, 6-5.  Piaget continued to press with Crowder
breaking free and scoring the final goal of the period to knot it up again at
6-6.

“When we
worked together, we scored,” said Roldan, “but we’ve got a lot more work to do
before Thursday.  “I think we’ve got a
great team, we just have to be more focused.”

That focus
seemed to come into play in the final chukker. 
The Grants Farm defense stepped it up and shut down the Piaget
attack.  Three goals from Roldan and a
penalty goal from Hall went unanswered as Grants Farm rode off with the game,
10-6.

Roldan led
all scorers in the game with seven goals. 
Hall added three for the winning side.

Crowder scored
three times for Piaget.  Astrada added
two and Bollini chipped in a single goal in the loss.

AUDI 9, MANSOUR 8

In one of
the day’s most competitive games, Audi rallied from an 8-6 second half deficit
to hand Mansour its first loss of the tournament, 9-8, while keeping its
unbeaten Pacific coast Open record intact.

Audi took
the early lead on a pair of penalty goals from 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres and a
goal from the field from Carlos Gracida. 
Mansour’s Lolo Castagnola answered with two goals from the field as Audi
took the early 3-2 lead.

Audi moved
out to a 4-3 lead in the second period on another penalty conversion from
Pieres.  Mansour tied it up at 4-4 with
two 60-yard penalty goals from Sapo Caset, as both teams battled for control of
the ball.

Castagnola
scored from the field and 10-goaler Caset converted a penalty shot for a 6-4
Mansour lead, but Audi dug in.  Goals
from Audi team captain Marc Ganzi and Carlos Gracida ended the first half with
the teams deadlocked at 6-6.

Mansour went
up 8-6 in the fourth as Audi couldn’t coordinate its offense.  A missed 40-yard penalty shot didn’t help as
they fell behind Mansour by two goals.

Audi
tightened up its defense in the fifth chukker, shutting out the Mansour offense
for the first time all afternoon.  Ten-goaler
against 10-goaler as Caset and Pieres battled for field positioning.  Carols Gracida accounted for the only goal of
the chukker, as Audi missed two more penalty attempts.  Only one chukker remained with Mansour ahead,
8-7.

The Audi
defense intensified in the final seven minutes of play as Mansour attempted to
score an insurance goal.  First a tying goal
from the field by Carlos Gracida then a go-ahead goal from Pieres complimented
the team’s miserly defense.  Audi outscored
Mansour 3-0 in the final two periods of the game and captured the victory in a
9-8 thriller.

Play will
continue in the 2011 Bombardier Pacific Coast Open on Thursday, August 25 when Mansour
(1-1) faces Piaget in a 10AM matchup followed by a showdown between Grants Farm
(1-1) and ERG (0-2) at 1PM.  The 3PM
contest will feature the only two undefeated teams in Audi (2-0) and Lucchese
(2-0).