Flat Out
and Barbarossa Leather in USPA North America Cup finals
By Alex Webbe
Sluggish first
half offenses gave way to wide open play in the final three chukkers as Flat
Out recorded a hotly contested 9-8 win over Elangeni Ranch in the opening match
of the 2011 20-goal USPA North America Cup Friday afternoon at the Grand
Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Elangeni
Ranch took an early 2-0 lead with the benefit of one goal by handicap and a
penalty conversion from 7-goaler Luis Escobar.
Flat Out
fought back in the second chukker, shutting down the Elangeni Ranch offense
while picking up a goal from the field from 2-goaler Misha Rodzianko. Elangeni Ranch continued to lead, but the
margin was cut to a single goal, 2-1.
Goals from
Brandon Phillips and Rodzianko had Flat Out owning a 3-2 lead in the third, but
a well-deserved goal from Martin Estrada knotted it up at 3-3 to end the first
half of play.
Scoring
continued to be a problem for both teams in the fourth with Elangeni Ranch
scoring the only goal of the chukker as Diego Cossio scored his first goal of
the day. Flat Out left the field
trailing 4-3 with just two chukkers to play.
Nic Roldan scored
twice for Flat Out in the fifth, but Escobar matched him with a goal from the
field and a penalty goal. Elangeni Ranch
continued to lead, 6-5.
Flat Out’s
offense erupted in the final period with Phillips and Roldan scoring two goals
apiece while holding Elangeni Ranch to single goals from Estrada and
Escobar.
The final
horn sounded with Flat Out sitting on top of a 9-8 score and earning a berth in
Snday’s finals.
Rodzianko, Phillips
and Roldan scored three goals apiece for the flat Out win.
Escobar
accounted for four goals for Elangeni Ranch.
Estrada added two goals and Cossio scored a single goal in the loss.
BARBAROSSA LEATEHR WINS ROUND-ROBIN,
MOVES INTO FINALS
The final
contest of the tournament pitched three teams against one another in
round-robin play. With Barbarossa
Leather emerging as the winner, and qualifying for a berth in the USPA North
America Cup finals against Flat Out at noon on Sunday, November 6.
Barbarossa
Leather fought Piaget to a 3-3 tie before running away with an 8-2 win over
Audi. Melissa Ganzi scored the opening
goal from the throw in for Piaget, with Barbarossa Leather’s Leo Mandelbaum
evening the score at 1-1 with his first goal of the match. Mandelbaum and Piaget’s Joey Case exchanged
goals in the second period of the three-chukker mini-match. Mandelbaum converted a penalty shot to give Barbarossa
Leather a 3-2 lead. Casey tied it up
with his second goal of the game and the teams left the field win a 3-3 tie.
Barbarossa
Leather held the field for a challenge from Audi with Piaget sitting down for a
couple of chukkers.
Ruben
Gracida scored the first goal of the contest with Audi, but a pair of penalty
goals from Marc Ganzi had Audi driving off for an early 2-1 advantage. Hector Galindo scored to tie it up for Barbarossa
Leather, and the match was deadlocked at 2-2.
Goals from
Gracida, Mandelbaum and Galindo were complimented by shutout defense for Barbarossa
Leather, and after two chukkers of action, Audi found itself trailing 5-2.
Three more Barbarossa
Leather goals went unanswered, with Gracida converting a penalty shot for a
goal while Mandelbaum scored twice from the field for the 8-2 final score.
Barbarossa
Leather earned a position in the finals of the North America Cup with a win
over Audi (8-2) and a 3-3 tie with Piaget.
Mandelbaum
scored six times on the day with teammate Gracida adding three goals and
Galindo scoring twice.
Melissa
Ganzi led the Piaget attack with three goals.
Casey added two goals to the Piaget scoreboard while Audi’s Marc Ganzi
set the pace with three goals. Gene Goldstein
added two in the team’s 1-1 record.
Action will
continue in the 2011 USPA North America Cup on Sunday with a consolation match
slated to begin at 10am while the finals will kick off at noon. Both matches will take place at the Grand
Champions Polo Club.