Flight Options defeats Team
USPA in National Twenty Goal final
By Alex Webbe
Flight Options (Melissa Ganzi, Kris Kampsen, Nic Roldan and
Juan Bollini) outlasted a determined Team USPA (Jared Sheldon, Patrick Uretz,
Jesse Bray, Felipe Viana and Jeff Blake) to win the 2014 USPA National Twenty
Goal Championship in a high-scoring, 14-13 win Sunday afternoon at the Grand
Champions Polo Club.
Team USPA received
two goals by handicap from the 18-goal Flight Options team and watched as
American 8-goaler Nic Roldan quickly tied it up with a goal from the field and
a penalty conversion. Felipe Viana countered with a 40-yard penalty conversion,
3-2. With twenty-one seconds on the clock, Roldan tied it up with his third
goal of the chukker to end the first period all even at 3-3.
Flight Options
continued to pound the young Team USPA in the second with Kris Kampsen opening
with a penalty goal followed by a goal from the field to move ahead, 5-3. Team
USPA continued to put pressure on the Flight Options resulting in a pair of
penalties that were converted by Viana. The score was deadlocked at 5-5.
Roldan took early
possession of the ball in the third, blistering it through the Team USPA
goalposts from over 90-yards out, 6-5. Viana added another 40-yard penalty
goal, 6-6. Goals from Roldan and Juan Bollini put Flight Options on top, 8-6.
Viana scored the final goal of the chukker to bring Team USPA to within a goal
of the lead, 8-7, at the end of the first half.
A minute into the
fourth chukker Roldan blasted the ball through the goalposts from over a
hundred yards out, 9-7Goals from Viana and Jesse Bray tied it at 9-9, and Jeff
Blake’s first goal of the game put Team USPA in the lead, 10-9. A great
individual effort by Kampsen tied the game once again with just eight seconds
on the clock. At the end of the fourth it was deadlocked at 10-10.
Both defenses stepped
it up in the fifth. Viana scored the first goal of the chukker at the 5:01 mark
for an 11-10 advantage as the pace of the game continued to escalate. Two
minutes later Kampsen tied it with the final goal of the chukker, 11-11.
Bollini scored the
first goal of the sixth chukker just two minutes into the final chukker, 12-11,
and Kampsen’s fourth goal of the day had Flight Options in the lead, 13-11, but
Team USPA fought back. Just thirty seconds later Viana answered Kampsen’s goal
with a penalty conversion, 13-12, and tied it with another penalty shot at
13-13 with just under three minutes left in regulation time. A costly foul by
Team USPA sent Roldan to the penalty line at the 2:23 mark where he scored the
final goal of the game for a hard-fought 14-13 win.
Viana led all scoring
with nine goals (eight on penalty conversions). Bray and Blake added single
goals and the team received two goals by handicap. Roldan led the Flight
Options attack with eight scores (two on penalty shots) and was named MVP for
his efforts. Kampsen scored four times and Bollini added two goals for the
victory.
Zorrito, a Bay
Gelding owned by Halo Polo and played by Jesse Bray, was named Best Playing
Pony.
Palm Beach Polo 16,
Casablanca 14
In a high-scoring
fast-paced game earlier in the afternoon Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, Guille
Aguero, Jeff Hall and Brandon Phillips) ran out to an 11-5 halftime score
before hanging on to record a 16-4 win over Casablanca (Marc Ganzi, Grant
Ganzi, Julio Arellano and Juan Jose Brane).
Casablanca received
one goal by handicap and made it 2-0 on a goal from the field from American
9-goaler Julio Arellano. Jeff Hall and Marc Ganzi traded goals as Casablanca
held the lead, 3-1. A goal from the field from Guille Aguero and a penalty
conversion from Hall closed out the chukker with the teams tied at three goals
apiece, 3-3.
Grant Ganzi scored
the first goal of the second period on a well-executed neck shot at a severe
angle, 4-3. Hall took the ensuing throw-in and raced down the field to tie it
at 4-4. Consecutive goals from Brandon Phillips had Palm Beach Polo in the
lead, 6-4. Marc Ganzi scored from the field to cut the led to a single goal,
6-5. With under a minute left in the period, Phillips scored his third goal of
the game to extend the Palm Beach Polo lead to two goals, 7-5.
Palm Beach Polo owned
the third chukker. Shutout defense was complimented by a pair of goals from
Aguero, a goal from Glenn Straub and a goal from Phillips. At the end of the
first half it was Palm Beach Polo with a commanding 11-5 advantage.
A goal from Hall
opened the second half, 12-5, when Casablanca found their rhythm. Single goals
from Arellano, Marc Ganzi and Grant Ganzi ended the period as Casablanca began
to cut into the Palm Beach Polo lead, 12-8.
The two teams traded
goals in the fifth with Aguero and Phillips (penalty conversion) scoring for
Palm Beach Polo while Casablanca responded with single goals from Grant Ganzi
(penalty shot) and Marc Ganzi. The Palm Beach Polo remained in front by four
goals, 14-10.