Team USPA wins NationalTwenty Goal opener in OT
By Alex Webbe
A heroic performance was put in by Team USPA’s (JaredSheldon, Patrick Uretz, Felipe Viana, Jeff Blake and Jesse Bray) Felipe Viana whoscored the winning goal in overtime as they downed a veteran Palm Beach Polo foursome(Glenn Straub, Guille Aguero, Jeff Hall and Brandon Phillips) in the openinggame of the 2014 USPA National Twenty Goal Championship Thursday morning at theGrand Champions Polo Club in Wellington “It was strictly a team win,†saidViana after the match. We got a lot ofhelp and direction from Jeff Blake and really played well as a team,†hesaid. “It’s a lot different playing atthe 20-goal level than at 14-goals,†he added, “but I think we played prettywell.â€
Team USPA received one goal by handicap and added another ona goal from the field from Patrick Uretz for a 2-0 start. Palm Beach Polo responded with a penalty goalfrom 7-goaler Jeff Hall and a goal from the field from teammate Guille Agueroto tie it at 2-2.
Brandon Phillips put Palm Beach Polo in the lead with a pairof goals in the second chukker, scoring once from the field and adding a secondgoal on a penalty shot, 4-2. Team USPAfought back with Viana scoring the final goal of the chukker. Palm Beach Polo left the field on top of a4-3 score.
Team USPA rallied in the third combining shutout defensewith goals from 6-goaler Jeff Blake and Jesse Bray. Blake tied it at 4-4 and Bray’s goal endedthe first half with Team USPA ahead by a goal, 5-4.
Palm Beach Polo pressed on in the fourth. Hall opened the scoring with a goal from thefield, 5-5, with Viana answering back with his second goal of the match to givethe lead back to Team USPA, 6-5. Hallscored the final goal of the period to deadlock the game at six goals apiece.
The pace of the game continued to escalate with a Team USPAfoul sending Phillips to the penalty line where he converted the shot for agoal, 7-6. Bray tied it up with a goalfrom the field as the two teams rode off at the end of the chukker all evenagain at 7-7.
“They (Team USPA) played hard,†said Hall. “They seem to be all over the field. Every time you were on the ball you’ve gotone of them crashing into you,†he said. “They played well.â€
Sixth chukker action had Phillips scoring on another penaltyshot for Palm Beach Polo for an 8-7 edge, but Viana spoiled the victorycelebration with his third goal on the day, tying it at 8-8. Team USPA had an opportunity to end the gameon a 60-yard penalty shot with seconds on the clock, but the ball was defendedout of bounds by a Palm Beach Polo player. The defensive deflection resulted in a Penalty 6. Viana lined up for his second 60-yard penaltyshot of the chukker only to have it blocked again with time expiring, forcing asudden-death overtime.
At the start of the overtime period and the ball at the PalmBeach Polo end of the field, the two teams lined up about ten yards from thegoal. The throw-in careened off of a horse’sleg in the direction of the Team USPA players. An off-side backhander by Viana carried through the goal posts for thewinning goal, 9-8.
“We had our chances,†said Palm Beach Polo 5-goaler BrandonPhillips. “We missed a number of scoringopportunities.â€
Viana led the Team USPA attack with four goals. Bray scored twice with Blake and Uretz addingsingle goals. The team also received onegoal by handicap. Phillips scored fourtimes (two on penalty conversions) for Palm Beach Polo. Hall was credited with three goals (one on apenalty shot) and Aguero scored once in the loss.
Play continues in the USPA National Twenty Goal Championshipat the Grand Champions Polo Club on Friday afternoon with semifinal play as FlightOptions (Melissa Ganzi, Kris Kampsen, Nic Roldan and Juan Bollini) facesCasablanca (Grant Ganzi, Julio Gracida, Piki Alberdi and Roberto Gonzalez). At 3PM, Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida,Julio Arellano and Mason Wroe) will meet Team USPA. The tournament final isscheduled to be played at 3PM on Sunday, November 23rd.