Certified/Endeavor wins Palm city Open, 8-7
By
Alex Webbe
Certified/Endeavor (Michael Borrico, Larry Austin, Joaquin
Panelo and Nic Roldan) scored an 8-7 win over a stubborn Power Horse (Melissa
Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Juan Bollini and Walter Scherb) in the finals of the Palm
city Open at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington Sunday morning.
With the ominous threat of rain in the air, Walter Scherb
got Power Horse on the scoreboard with the opening goal of the game, 1-0. Nic Roldan responded for Certified/Endeavor
with a penalty conversion for a 1-1 tie.
A second goal from the field from Roldan had Certified/Endeavor on top
of a 2-1 score. Juan Bollini tied it up
with the final goal of the period, 2-2.
The two teams traded penalty goals in the second chukker,
with Roldan converting the penalty shot for Certified/Endeavor while Scherb
rang one up for Power Horse. The score
remained tied after the second period, 3-3.
Power Horse got a leg up on Certified/Endeavor in the
third with a penalty goal from Crowder and a goal from the field from Juan
Bollini that traveled over 100 yards for a score. Roldan scored on a penalty shot, but Power
Horse held the 5-4 halftime lead.
Fourth chukker play was an exercise in defense with neither
team being able to score After four periods of play the score stood at 5-4.
Certified/Endeavor got on track in the fifth chukker with
a pair of goals from Roldan and a goal from the field from Austin. Melissa Ganzi scored the only Power Horse
goal of the chukker, with Certified/Endeavor leading for the first time since the
first chukker, 7-6.
Scherb scored for Power Horse in a melee in front of the Certified/Endeavor
goal to knot it up at 7-7, but it was Panelo’s goal that ended the game with an
8-7 Certified/Endeavor victory.
Roldan set the scoring pace for the game with six
goals. Panelo and Austin added single
goals for the win.
Scherb scored three times for Power Horse. Bollini scored twice and Crowder and Ganzi
offered up single goals in the loss.
KIG
9, CINQUE TERRE 8
Earlier in the morning, Hannah Buchan led KIG (Hannah
Buchan, Marc Ganzi, Lucas Lalor and Jeff Hall) to a 9-8 win over Cinque Terre (Avery
Chapman, Alessandro Bazzoni, Brandon Phillips and Luis Escobar) in the
subsidiary finals of the Palm City Open.
KIG opened the game with a 4-1 lead with three goals from
Buchan and a single goal from Jeff Hall.
Alessandro Bazzoni scored the only goal of the first chukker with a goal
from the field.
The two teams traded goals in the second with Brandon
Phillips scoring a goal for Cinque Terre while Marc Ganzi scored his first goal
of the day to keep KIG in front, 5-2.
In a mirror image of the pervious chukker, Ganzi and
Phillips exchanged goals once again as the two teams struggled for control of
the game. With a 6-3 halftime lead,
however, it appeared that KIG was winning the fight.
Two more goals from Buchan were answered by a single goal
from Cinque Terre’s Luis Escobar as KIG extended their lead to four goals, 8-4.
Bazzoni scored twice in the fifth, cutting the lead to
two goals, 8-6. Marc Ganzi closed the
chukker with his third goal of the game.
KIG continued to lead, 9-6.
Cinque Terre mounted a rally in the sixth and final
chukker, picking up goals from Avery Chapman and Phillips, but the rally fell
short in a 9-8 loss.
Buchan led all scoring with five goals. Ganzi added three scores while Hall scored
once in the win.
Bazzoni and Phillips scored three goals apiece. Chapman and Escobar added single goals in a
losing effort.