Cambiaso Scores Ten in 2010 Skene Cup Finals

Lucchese Floors Valiente 16-7 in Skene Trophy Finals


By Alex Webbe


 


If there was any mystery on the West coast surrounding the talents of 10-goal Argentine star Adolfo Cambiaso it was erased on Sunday afternoon at the Santa Barbara Polo club.  Cambiaso set the field on fire as he scored ten goals on the day (6 from the field, 4 on penalty shots) to lead Lucchese to a resounding 16-7 win over a previously unbeaten Valiente team to capture the 2010 Skene Trophy and set the stage for the Lucchese to make a run at a sweep of the three major 20-goal tournaments at Santa Barbara this year.


“He’s just amazing,” said Pro Chukker’s Mike Moertl.  â€œThere isn’t anything he can’t do,” he added.


Cambiaso scored the first goal of the game followed by a goal from the field by teammate Jason Crowder.  Kris Kampsen converted a penalty shot for Valiente but Andres Weisz scored to end the chukker with Lucchese sitting on top of a 3-1 lead.


Cambiaso continued to take control of the game in the second chukker, but had his play interrupted three times by umpire Dale Schwetz as he managed to violate the “tap-tap” rule that was created to keep someone of Cambiaso’s talents from slowing down the game and controlling the ball.  On the third whistle, Cambiaso had some words with Schwetz, drawing a technical foul for his efforts. 


Weisz scored twice for Lucchese while Valiente’s offense was held to a single goal from Nacho Astrada.  Lucchese led 5-2 after two chukkers of play.


Kampsen and Cambiaso traded a pair of goals in the third chukker, with Valiente finding itself on the defense for much of the chukker, and the first half ended with Lucchese ahead, 7-4.


Cambiaso took full control of the game in the fourth period, scoring four times while the Lucchese defense blanked a powerful Valiente attack.  Lucchese extended its lead to 11-4.


Coming into the game, Valiente’s Kampsen led all scorers, averaging 8.3 goals per game, but that was not to be the case today.  A smothering defense held Kampsen’s offensive prowess to a minimum, and Cambiaso continued to roll.


Weisz scored his fourth goal of the game in the fifth chukker and Cambiaso added two more.  Valiente kept pace, getting a pair of goals from Astrada and another goal from Kampsen, but they needed more than three goals to get back into the game.  At the end of five chukkers of play, Valiente found itself trailing by a 14-7 score.


Single goals by Weisz and Cambiaso accounted for the only scoring of the final chukker, with Lucchese capturing a 16-7 win in the Skene Trophy finals.


Cambiaso led all scoring with ten goals.  Weisz added five, and Crowder accounted for one goal in the win.


Kampsen led the Valiente effort with four goals.  Astrada added three in a losing effort.


To no one’s surprise, Cambiaso was named MVP while his bay mare, Mika, received Best Playing Pony honors.


GRANTS FARM 13, ZACARA 10


Grants Farm got eight goals from South African star, Sugar Erskine, as it captured a 13-10 win over Zacara in the tournament’s consolation match earlier in the day.


Zacara received one goal by handicap and rang up four more first half goals with Jeff Hall converting three penalty shots and Hilario Ulloa scoring once from the field.


Erskine scored four times for Grants farm in the opening chukkers, getting a pair of goals from teammate Jeff Blake to nab a narrow 6-5 halftime lead.


Two more goals from Blake in the fourth period were countered by a single Zacara goal (Ulloa), and Grants Farm moved ahead, 8-6.


Grants Farm tacked up three more goals in the fifth chukker with Ulloa and Hall scoring single goals in response.  Grants Farm now led by an 11-8 score with one period to play.


Erskine scored his seventh and eighth goals of the game to open the final chukker.  Hall responded with a penalty conversion and a goal from the field, but it was not enough.


Grants Farm took the consolation match by a 13-10 margin.


In a morning contest, Audi handed Mansour a 12-0 defeat as the teams continue to hone their skills for the upcoming USPA America Cup, beginning on Friday.