Phillips scores seven
goals in leading Aspen Valley to final win
By Alex Webbe
Aspen Valley Polo Club (Gene Goldstein, Wes Finlayson,
Brandon Phillips and Roberto Gonzalez) trailed CT Energia (Marc Ganzi,
Alessandro Bazzoni, Felipe Viana and Kris Kampsen) early but rode a seven goal day
from Brandon Phillips to register a 10-9 win in the final of the 2014 USPA Fall
Plates at Grand champions Polo Club in Wellington Sunday afternoon.
CT Energia received one goal by handicap and added a first
chukker goal from CT Energia team captain Alessandro Bazzoni for a 2-0
lead. Brandon Phillips got Aspen Valley
on the scoreboard with a penalty conversion.
CT Energia left the field with a 2-1 edge.
Bazzoni extended the CT Energia lead with his second goal in
the second period to make it 3-1. Consecutive goals from Phillips closed out
the chukker with the score all even at 3-3.
Both defenses buckled down in the third. Phillips scored for the fourth time to make
it 4-3, Aspen Valley while CT Energia was held scoreless. At the end of the first half, Aspen Valley
was in possession of a narrow one goal lead.
Gene Goldstein scored the opening goal of the second half as
the Aspen Valley lead grew, 5-3.
Phillips scored again for a three goal lead, 6-3. Kampsen finally got CT Energia on track with
a well-executed neck shot by Kampsen from 30-yards out to cut the lead back to
just two goals, 6-4, but Phillips was on fire, with just 21 seconds in the
chukker he scored his sixth goal of the match.
Aspen Valley was on top, 7-4.
Goldstein and Kampsen traded goals in the fifth period, 8-5,
with a penalty conversion from Phillips padding the Aspen Valley lead at 9-5.
Kampsen opened the scoring in the sixth period with a goal
from the field, 9-6. Roberto Gonzalez
responded with a goal for Aspen Valley, 10-6.
Marc Ganzi drilled the ball through the Aspen Valley goal, 10-7, with
nearly five minutes left in the game in an effort to rally his teammates. Felipe Viana cut the lead to two goals at the
3:37 mark but that was where the rally stalled.
The Aspen Valley defense stepped up and shut down attack after
attack. Ganzi ran the ball down the
field for the final goal as time expired on the 10-9 Aspen Valley win.
Phillips led all scoring with seven goals (two on penalty
shots), and was named MVP for his efforts.
Goldstein scored twice and Gonzalez added a goal for the victory. Kampsen led the balanced CT Energia effort
with three goals. Bazzoni and Ganzi
scored two goals apiece. Viana scored
once and the team received one goal by handicap.
Halo Polo’s stallion, Marco Polo, received Best Playing Pony
honors. He was played by Marc Ganzi in
the third chukker of the game.
La Indiana 8, Palm
Beach Polo 4
La Indiana (Avery Chapman, Michael Bickford, Nic Roldan and
Juan Bollini) opened the day by dominating a talented Palm Beach Polo team (Glenn
Straub, Alejandro Gonzalez, Piki Alberdi and Juancito Bollini) in consolation
play for an 8-4 victory.
Palm Beach Polo was spotted two goals by handicap to start
the game and was held scoreless for the first four chukkers by a swarming La
Indiana defense.
Nic Roldan scored single goals in the each of the opening
two chukkers for the only scoring. The
game was tied at 2-2. Avery Chapman
(substituting for Melissa Ganzi) scored the go-ahead goal for La Indiana. Palm Beach Polo was blanked again and trailed
3-2 at the end of the first half.
Fourth period goals from Roldan and Michael Bickford
accounted for all of the scoring. An
impotent Palm Beach Polo team fell behind by three goals, 5-2.
Bickford’s second goal of the game came at 4:59 of the
fifth, 6-2. Juancito Bollini finally
scored a goal from the field for Palm Beach Polo. Roldan closed out the chukker with penalty
conversion in the final 47 seconds. The
La Indiana lead held at four goals, 7-3, with one chukker left to play.
Piki Alberdi scored on a neck-shot for Palm Beach Polo, but
there was no rally in the air. A solid
defensive effort by La Indiana was complimented by a closing goal from Roldan
with 22 seconds on the clock for the 8-4 win.
Roldan scored five times for La Indiana. Bickford added two goals and Chapman added a
goal for the victory. Palm Beach Polo
received two goals by handicap and got single goals from Bollini and Alberdi in
the one-sided loss.
Casablanca 14, Palm
Beach Equine 8
A youthful Casablanca foursome (Grant Ganzi, Patrick Uretz,
Jesse Bray and Julio Gracida) led Palm Beach Equine (Leo Mandelbaum, Carlitos
Gracida, Guille Aguero and Scott Swerdlin) 6-5 at the end of the first half of
the subsidiary final before riding on for a comfortable 13-8 win.
Casablanca received one goal by handicap and watched as Palm
Beach Equine scored the first goal from the field, 1-1. Casablanca responded with three consecutive
goals for a 4-1 advantage. Jesse Bray
scored twice and Patrick Uretz added a goal in the opening period.
Second chukker goals from Leo Mandelbaum and Carlitos
Gracida were answered by a single goal from Julio Gracida. Palm Beach Equine cut into the Casablanca
lead but trailed by two goals, 5-3.
Mandelbaum and Aguero added single goals in the third period
while holding Casablanca to a single goal from Uretz. The lead continued to belong to Casablanca,
but the margin was a paper thin one goal, 6-5.
Casablanca stormed onto the field in the second half and
scored three quick goals. Grant Ganzi
converted consecutive penalty shots for a three goal, 8-5 lead. Julio Gracida’s second goal of the game gave
Casablanca a four goal, 9-5 advantage while Palm Beach Equine was blanked.
Fifth period goals from Uretz and Julio Gracida stretched
the Casablanca lead to six goals, 11-5.
For the second consecutive chukker Palm Beach Equine was unable to mount
a successful attack as Casablanca took control of the game.
Ganzi opened the final chukker with his third penalty
conversion of the game, 12-5. Carlitos
Gracida finally got Palm Beach Equine on the scoreboard again, 12-6. Ganzi scored from the field for a seven goals
Casablanca lead with Aguero and Carlitos Gracida scoring the final two goals of
the match in a 13-8 Casablanca victory.
Ganzi’s four goals led the Casablanca attack (three on
penalty shots). Uretz and Julio Gracida
scored three goals each and Bray added two goals for the win. Aguero and Carlitos Gracida scored three
goals apiece for Palm Beach Equine.
Mandelbaum was credited with two goals in the loss.