Casablanca wins PalmRestaurant Invitational final, 13-8
By Alex Webbe
Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Leo Mandelbaum, Jeff Hall and JulioGracida) ran up an 8-3 halftime lead over Palm Beach Equine (Gene Goldstein,Jeff Blake, Kris Kampsen and Scott Swerdlin) in the final of the PalmRestaurant Invitational at the Grand Champions Polo Club before recording acomfortable 13-8 win.
Palm Beach Equine received one goal by handicap from the14-goal Casablanca lineup and added to it with a 60-yard penalty conversion byKris Kampsen at the 5:25 mark, 2-0. Grant Ganzi answered back for Casablanca as he converted on a pair ofpenalty goals to knot it up at 2-2.
Kampsen gave the lead back to Palm Beach Equine with a40-yard penalty goal, 3-2, in the opening seconds of the second period. Consecutive goals from the field from Ganzihad Casablanca in the lead, 4-3. JeffHall scored the final goal of the chukker for a 5-3 score.
Casablanca kept the pressure on with Hall opening the thirdperiod with a pair of goals from the field. Julio Gracida scored his first goal of the day while the Casablancadefense shut down the Palm Beach Equine attack. At the end of the first half it was Casablanca in the lead, 8-3.
The Casablanca defense continued to dominate the field inthe second half. Leo Mandelbaum got inon the scoring spree for Casablanca with a goal and Hall added his fourth goalof the game for a commanding 10-3 lead. Kampsen kept Palm Beach Equine form being shut out with a goal. Casablanca continued to lead, 10-4.
A penalty goal from Kampsen in the fifth was followed upwith a goal from Jeff Blake, 10-6, but it was Casablanca with the lastword. Hall scored for the fifth time forthe 11-6 lead.
Kampsen and Hall traded goals in the final chukker withKampsen scoring on a penalty shot and a goal from the field. Hall’s sixth and seventh goals of the daycame from the field for the 13-8 final.
Hall led all scoring with seven goals. Ganzi scored four goals (two on penaltyconversions). Mandelbaum and Gracidaadded single goals for the victory. Kampsen’ssix goals (four on penalty shots) set the pace for the Palm Beach Equineoffense. Blake added a goal and the teamreceived one goal by handicap.
Jeff Hall was named MVP while Grant Ganzi’s Rhapsodia received Best Playing Ponyhonors.
Team USPA 13, PalmBeach Polo 12
After having a disappointing start to preparations for theFIP World Cup zone play, the talented young players of Team USPA (JaredSheldon, Jesse Bray, Patrick Uretz, Felipe Viana and Will Tankard) seemed to getit on track in the subsidiary of Palm Restaurant Invitational as they roderoughshod over Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, Juancito Bollini, BrandonPhillips and Roberto Gonzalez) Sunday morning in a 13-8 win.
Team USPA spotted the 11-goal Palm Beach Polo three goals tostart, but quickly made up for it. Jessie Bray scored the first goal of the game in the opening 28 secondsof play, carrying the ball down the field from the throw-in for the score. Ensuing goals from Jared Sheldon and WillTankard tied it up at three goals apiece. With 59 seconds left in the first chukker, Roberto Gonzalez converted apenalty shot for the 4-3 Palm Beach Polo lead.
Foul trouble put Palm Beach Polo in the hole in the secondperiod as Felipe Viana converted four 40-yard penalty shots for goals. Teammate Sheldon was on the receiving end ofa pass from Tankard to a goal from the field. Shutout defense kept Palm Beach Polo off of the scoreboard. After two periods of play Team USPA led, 8-4.
Sheldon’s third goal of the game had Team USPA in front byfive goals, 9-4 after the opening minute of the third chukker, 9-4. Palm Beach Polo’s Brandon Phillips converteda 40-yard penalty shot for a goal for Palm Beach Polo, 9-5. Bray converted a penalty shot for Team USPAwith Phillips and Viana trading goals from the fields in the waning minutes ofthe first half. Team USPA continued tolead, 11-6.
Palm Beach Polo finally managed to curb the Team USPA attackin the fourth. Phillips added a goalfrom the field and a penalty goal. PalmBeach Polo cut into the lead but continued to trail, 11-8.
Goals were hard to come by in the fifth. The teams traded goals with Viana scoring hissixth goal of the game and Phillips adding his fifth. Team USPA remained in the lead, 12-9.
Phillips took advantage of a Team USPA foul in the openingseconds of the sixth chukker, converting a 30-yard penalty shot to cut the leadto two goals, 12-10. A Palm Beach Polofoul in the goal mouth resulted in a Penalty 1 and the awarding of a goal toTeam USPA, 13-10. Roberto Gonzalezscored at the 4:47 mark of the final chukker, 13-11, but time was runningout. Gonzalez scored the final goal ofthe game with 59 seconds on the clock as Team USPA rode off with the 13-12 win.
Viana scored six goals for Team USPA and was named MVP forhis efforts. Sheldon added three goals,Bray was credited with two goals and Tankard scored once. Phillips scored three of his six goals onpenalty shots for Palm Beach Polo. Gonzalez added three goals and the team received three goals byhandicap.