Cinque Terre Needs OT to Down Pony Express in USPA Eastern Challenge Cup Finals
By Alex Webbe
After leading through much of the game, Cinque Terre needed an overtime period to stave off a resilient Pony Express foursome in the finals of the 2010 USPA Eastern Challenge Cup Finals Sunday morning at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Pony Express received two goals by handicap, but first chukker goals from Cinque Terre’s Marc Ganzi and Alessandro Bazzoni quickly knotted it up at 2-2. A penalty conversion from Pony Express 7-goaler ended the chukker with Cinque Terre trailing, 3-2.
Two second period goals from Nic Roldan were complimented by Bazzoni’s second goal of the game, and Cinque Terre took a 5-4 lead. Isabella Wolf accounted for the only Pony Express offense of the chukker with a goal that was scored in a scramble in front of the Cinque Terre goal mouth.
Goti got Pony Express off on the right foot in the opening of the third chukker with a well-placed neck shot from 70 yard out that split the goalposts, but Cinque Terre was just getting warmed up.
Single goals from the field from Lucas Lalor and Bazzoni were capped by a penalty conversion from Roldan, and the blue-shirted Cinque Terre players left the field with an 8-5 halftime advantage.
Shutout defense coupled with a pair of goals from Roldan had Cinque Terre up 10-5 after four chukkers of play, and it looked as though they would cruise to a win, but all is not what it seems.
Three straight goals from Goti, Bob Daniels and Joey Casey were answered by a single goal from Cinque Terre’s Bazzoni, with Daniels scoring his second goal of the chukker. A revived Pony Express attack had cut the lead to two goals, 11-9, with one chukker left in regulation time.
Daniels’ third goal of the game opened the sixth chukker, and had Pony Express within a goal. A penalty conversion from Goti had the game all even, 11-11, as time started running out before Cinque Terre charged back into battle.
Roldan’s sixth goal of the game came with under a minute to play, and seemed to ice the game for Cinque Terre, but Pony Express had other ideas. Shortly after the ensuing throw-in, and with twenty-nine seconds on the clock, Goti tool control of the ball and charged down the field.
With six seconds left to play, Goti stroked the ball through the goal posts and forced the game into overtime.
Following a brief intermission, both teams returned to the field for the sudden-death ending to the match. Both teams struggled for possession of the ball with Cinque Terre missing a penalty shot that would have won the game, and Pony Express trying to regain the strength of its earlier efforts.
With 3:12 left in the chukker, Roldan managed to elude the defenders and stroke the ball through for the winning shot, and Cinque Terre rode off the field with the 2010 USPA Eastern Challenge Cup Championship.
Roldan led all scorers with seven goals on the day. Bazzoni scored four times and Ganzi and Lalor added single goals in the win.
Goti’s five goals set the pace for Pony Express. Daniels added three goals and Wolf and Casey scored single goals.
Alessandro Bazzoni was named MVP while 61, a 12-year-old Black Thoroughbred mare, owned by Bob Daniels and played by Goti in the fifth chukker, was named Best Playing Pony.
NEWPORT TAKES CONSOLATION ROUND-ROBIN
In earlier action, Newport scored wins over Elangeni Ranch (5-3) and tied Endeavor (5-5) to win the round-robin consolation round of the USPA Eastern Challenge Cup Sunday morning.
Elangeni Ranch got the day started with an opening round, 5-3 win over Endeavor after trailing in the first two chukkers.
Two goals from Stevie Orthwein gave Elangeni Ranch the win as a stellar defensive effort kept Endeavor off of the scoreboard for the final chukker of play.
Newport took the field in the second round of play, and relied on goals two goals apiece from Gene Goldstein and Michel Dorignac and a single goal from Leo Mandelbaum to score the 5-4 win.
Brian Street accounted for two of Elangeni Ranch’s three goals. Sugar Erskine scored the other in the opening chukker of play.
In the final three chukkers of action, Newport managed to fend off an aggressive Endeavor attack to register a 5-5 tie, and take the consolation round honors.
Newport got a pair of goals from Dorignac and a single goal from Goldstein to open the showdown while holding Endeavor scoreless, but there was more polo to be played.
Dorignac and Mandelbaum each notched a goal in the second chukker, but Endeavor answered with three goals of its own. Juan Bollini, Kris Kampsen and Larry Austin each scored a goal to cut the Newport lead to 5-3 with one chukker to play.
Kampsen and Bollini each added single goals in the final chukker as Newport fought off one attack after another.
The sound of the final horn brought a collective sigh of relief to the entire Newport team as they left the field with a 5-5 tie and a round-robin victory.
Following the awards ceremony, the teams and the spectators were treated to a catered fieldside lunch by Cilantros’ Herman Moreira.