Valiente, Lucchese Ride into Skene Finals
By Alex Webbe
Valiente (3-0) scored a 13-9 win over Audi (1-2), and the long awaited arrival of the great Adolfo Cambiaso paid fast dividends as Lucchese (3-0) secured a 13-9 win over Piocho Ranch (0-3) to set the stage for Sunday’s finals of the 2010 Robert Skene Trophy at the Santa Barbara Polo Club.
In a noon showdown that featured winless Piocho Ranch and unbeaten Lucchese, it was 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso who took center stage, scoring eight goals in leading Lucchese to a 13-9 win and the first berth in the finals of the 2010 Robert Skene Trophy.
Jason Crowder scored first in the shootout that featured Cambiaso on John Muse’s Lucchese team against the brother combination of Memo and Carlos Gracida for Tom Barrack’s Piocho Ranch foursome.
Two more goals from Andres Weisz had Lucchese up 3-0, and Cambiaso’s first goal of the game had them up 4-0 before Piocho ever got on the scoreboard.
Proving they weren’t there as spectators, the Gracidas finally got the ball rolling in their direction.
Carlos Gracida converted a penalty shot for a goal and a pair of goals from brother Memo cut the Lucchese lead to a single goal, 4-3, as the chukker ended.
Matias Zavaleta tied the game at 4-4 with the open goal of the second chukker, but Cambiaso showed why he is considered the best player in the game today by notching a pair of goals from the field. Lucchese took a 6-4 lead after the second chukker of play.
Cambiaso scored again in the third and teammate Crowder converted a 40-yard penalty shot, but single goals from each of the Gracidas kept the score close, with Lucchese holding on to an 8-6 lead at the half.
Memo Gracida and Weisz exchanged penalty goals in the fourth, with Carlos Gracida cutting the Lucchese lead to a single goal, 9-8, after four periods.
As if on command, Cambiaso rallied the Lucchese defense, keeping Piocho from scoring in the fifth while he added two more goals of his own to extend the lead to 11-8.
Memo Gracida opened the final chukker with a goal from the field, but the Lucchese team was too strong for the talented Piocho side today.
Cambiaso converted two penalty goals to close out the game with a 13-9 Lucchese win and a spot in the finals.
Cambiaso led all scorers with eight goals. Weisz scored three times and Crowder added a pair in the win.
Memo Gracida led the Piocho offense with four goals. Carlos Gracida scored three times and Zavaleta added two goals.
VALIENTE 13, AUDI 9
Valiente once again relied on the teamwork of Nacho Astrada and Kris Kampsen in the win. Injured 10-goaler Lolo Castagnola watched from the sidelines once again as 6-goaler Juan “Jota†Chavanne took his place in the 16-goal Audi lineup.
Audi received four goals by handicap and ran the score up to 5-1 on a goal from the field from Juan Bollini. Kampsen converted a penalty shot to account for Valiente’s only goal of the opening chukker.
“We weren’t about to take them lightly,†offered Kampsen when asked about the strength of the Audi team. “They beat ERG last week, and we knew they had the talent to beat us if we didn’t pay attention.â€
A rejuvenated Valiente took to the field in the second chukker combining shutout defense with single goals from Kampsen, Astrada and Juan Carlos Harriott. Valiente made up some ground but continued to trail, 5-4.
Harriott opened the third chukker with a tying goal, but Chavanne answered with a goal for Audi. That was when the Valiente attack took charge.
Teamwork and pin point passing allowed Kampsen to score a pair of goals from the field and convert his second penalty shot of the game. Valiente rode off the field with an 8-6 halftime advantage.
Two more goals from the field from Kampsen in the fourth period countered a pair of penalty goals from Chavanne. Astrada tallied his second goal of the match for an 11-8 Valiente lead with two chukkers to play.
Penalties slowed down the Valiente advance throughout the first half of play, and it would be a penalty goal from Bollini that would put Audi on the scoreboard again in the fifth. Astrada added another Valiente goal to close the chukker with Audi trailing 12-9.
“I didn’t feel comfortable about the game until it was over,†said Kampsen, and after stellar defense that kept Audi from scoring in the final chukker and a final penalty conversion from Astrada the Valiente team breathed a sigh of relief on the heels of a 13-9 win and a trip to Sunday’s 3 pm finals.
Kampsen set the pace for the field once again with seven goals on the day. Astrada scored four times and Harriott scored twice in the win.
Chavanne was high scorer for Audi with three goals. Bollini scored twice and they received four goals by handicap.
ZACARA 15, MANSOUR 11
In the morning game it was a balanced Zacara (2-1) attack that scored a 15-11 win over an outgunned Mansour (1-2) team.
With Robert Jornayvaz, Jr. filling in for Zacara team captain Lyndon Lea, Zacara received one goal by handicap, but didn’t seem to need it as it ran up a 9-4 halftime score.
Four first half goals from Zacara’s Jeff Hall provided most of the firepower, but single goals from Jornayvaz and Carlitos Gracida and a pair of goals from 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa had them cruising to a commanding five-goal first half lead.
Mansour team captain Ben Soleimani scored his team’s only goal of the fourth chukker as Zacara added four more goals in for a 13-5 advantage.
Three straight goals from Mansour in the fifth seemed to get them back in the game before Ulloa finally broke through to score for Zacara. A final goal from Zegers ended the Mansour offense in the fifth with Zacara holding on to a 14-9 lead.
Luis Escobar scored his third and fourth goals of the game while the Mansour defense held Zacara to a single goal from Jornayvaz, and the match ended with Zacara the victor by virtue of a 15-11 score.
GRANTS FARM 10, ERG 9
Grants Farm (2-1) relied on second half defense to allow them to bounce back from a 7-5 halftime deficit against ERG as they managed to take the lead in the fifth chukker and hold on for a 10-9 victory.
ERG came out of the blocks quickly, getting four goals from Santiago Torres, a pair of goals from Paco de Narvaez and a single goal from Silvestre Donovan, but they couldn’t get that some momentum going again in second half play.
With Grants Farm putting up five second half goals while holding ERG to just two scoring efforts, it was Andy Busch’s team that celebrated the 10-9 win.
Sunday’s 20-goal action will begin with a pair of 10 am matches with Piocho Ranch and ERG facing off while Mansour and Audi meet on another field at the same time.
At 1 pm, Grants Farm (2-1) will do battle with Zacara (2-1) while the feature match of the game will begin at 3 pm with Lucchese meeting Valiente in the 2010 Skene Trophy finals.