Audi becomes first NationalTwenty Goal finalist with 9-8 win
By Alex Webbe
Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and CarlosGracida) rode out to a 6-3 halftime lead and held off a second half rally toscore a 9-8 win over Piaget (Melissa Ganzi, Jeff Hall, Piki Alberdi and JuanBollini) in Thursday’s semifinal match of the 2013 USPA National Twenty Goaltournament at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Although Piaget’s Jeff Hall scored the first goal of the dayon a 60-yard penalty shot, Audi received two goals by handicap from the 20-goalPiaget lineup and went ahead, 3-1 with the benefit of a first chukker goal fromMarc Ganzi.
Subdued second chukker action was limited to single goalsfrom Melissa Ganzi and Carlos Gracida. After two periods of play, Audi held on to its two goal lead, 4-2. Carlos Gracida made it 5-2 in the openingminute of the third chukker. Hall andMarc exchanged penalty goals to close out the chukker. Audi stretched their lead to three goals toend the first half on top, 6-3.
Piki Alberdi got Piaget back into it in the fourth, scoringthe first two goals of the chukker to cut the Audi lead to a single goal,6-5. Carlos Gracida extended the Audilead to two goals at the 2:27 mark, 7-5. Hall cut the lead back to a single goal, 7-6, scoring with just 21seconds on the clock.
Hall tied it up at 7-7 on a 40-yard penalty conversion inthe fifth, but Nic Roldan scored for Audi with under a minute remaining in thechukker. Audi left the field with an 8-7lead.
Three minutes into the final chukker, Alberdi knotted it upat 8-8 with a goal from the field. Bothteams struggled for the ball with little success. Marc Ganzi finally tallied the winning goalwith 2:32 left in the game. Piagetcontinued to press its attack, but a determined Audi defense kept them off thescoreboard.
The second tournament semifinal between Casablanca (GrantGanzi, Sugar Erskine, Mike Azzaro and Hector Galindo) and ELG (Avery Chapman,Guille Aguero, Kris Kampsen and Tommy Biddle) was scheduled to be played laterin the afternoon but was cancelled due to heavy rains. A makeup date has not yet been established.