Piaget and Flat Out in USPA Fall Classic final
ByAlex Webbe
Wins by Piaget and Flat Out Friday afternoon set thestage for Sunday’s finals of the 2012 USPA Fall Classic. Under the direction of the Grand championsPolo Club, the opening games took place on the grounds of the Palm City PoloClub and featured four teams with handicaps of 13 to 16-goals.
Piaget recorded the opening 10-8 win over Ruby Q behindsix goals from team captain Melissa Ganzi as they ran out to a 6-4 halftimelead before galloping off with the victory.
Piaget received one goal by handicap and added goals fromMelissa Ganzi (racing the length of the field with the ball for the score) andJuan Bollini in the opening chukker for the early 2-0 edge.
Another goal from Melissa Ganzi in the second wascountered by single goals from Joey Casey and Tommy Biddle for Ruby Q. Piaget continued to lead, 4-2.
Biddle converted a penalty shot for a goal in the thirdand Casey scored again from the field, but Piaget’s Mariano Gonzalez scoredtwice to maintain the two goal advantage, 6-4.
Melissa Ganzi scored Piaget’s only goal in the fourthchukker while Ruby Q was shutout by the Piaget defense. Ruby Q was now trailing by three goals, 7-4.
Biddle converted a pair of penalty shots for goals in thefifth, but Piaget responded with a goal from the field from Bollini and twomore from Melissa Ganzi (the second coming on a ball she captured on the throw-in and carried 150 yards fora score. Piaget found itself on top of a10-6 score with one chukker left to play.
Biddle added two more penalty goals to the Ruby Q totalto trail, 10-8. A final goal fromMelissa Ganzi closed out the scoring in the 11-8 Piaget win and a berth inSunday’s 12 pm USPA Fall Classic final.
FLATOUT 8, NEWPORT 6
Flat Out ended Friday’s USPA Fall classic action with an8-6 win over a talented Newport lineup.
Flat Out received one goal by handicap from the 16-goalNewport entry and picked up the opening goal of the match from Joaquin Paneloto move in front, 2-0. Marc Ganzi scoredNewport’s only opening chukker goal on a penalty conversion as they trailedFlat Out, 2-1.
The Newport attack came alive in the second period withGene Goldstein scoring twice from the field. Marc Ganzi added another as Newport move out to a 4-2 lead. Brandon Phillips scored his first goal of thegame, and Newport held the narrow 4-3 lead at the end of the first half.
The two teams exchanged single goals in the third chukkerwith Ganzi’s third goal on the day gave Newport a short-lived 5-3 advantage. Paul Knapp got Flat Out on the scoreboard inthe third but they continued to trail, 5-4.
J. J. Celis finally got on the scoreboard in the fourthwhile the Flat Out defense muffled the Newport attack. After four periods it was all even at 5-5.
A single goal from Flat Out’s Joaquin Panelo in the fifthperiod had Newport falling behind for the first time since the opening chukker,6-5.
Marc Ganzi’s fourth goal of the match tied it up again at6-6 before Flat Out answered. Knapp andPanelo closed out the scoring in an 8-6 win and a berth in the Sunday finalsagainst Piaget.
Newport and Ruby Q are slated to ply a consolation matchat 10 am on Sunday morning.