U.S. Polo Assn. and Piaget score early wins in SnowPolo tournament
By Alex Webbe
The U.S. Polo Assn. team(Grant Ganzi, Brandon Phillips and Tommy Biddle) and Piaget (Marc Ganzi, JeffHall and Nic Roldan) were the big winners Thursday in the opening round of playin the 2014 USPA Piaget World Snow Polo Championship at Carbondale’s Aspen ValleyPolo Club arena.
Two round-robins saw sixteams competing in the first games of the 2014 snow polo season as the U.S.Polo Assn. and Piaget entries scored two wins apiece in Thursday’s action.
In the opening round –robinthe U.S. Polo Assn. team’s Tommy Biddle scored four times to lift his team to a5-2 win over Audi.
Kris Kampsen scored theopening goal of the day for Audi, but Biddle responded with a goal for the U.S.Polo Assn., 1-1. Kampsen put Audi infront, 2-1 with his second goal of the match, 2-1. Again, Biddle answered back for the U.S. PoloAssn., 2-2. Kampsen’s third goal closedout the first chukker with Audi on top of a 3-2 score.
The second period belongedto the U.S. Polo Assn. as they scored three unanswered goals for the 5-2win. Biddle and Brandon Phillips scoredsingle goals from the field to give the U.S. Polo Assn. the lead, 4-3. Shutout defense and a final penalty goal fromBiddle gave the U.S. Polo Assn. the win, 5-3.
Audi remained in the arenato face St. Regis (Alejandro Gonzalez, Mariano Gracida and Roberto Gonzalez)for the second two chukker mini-match of the day.
Mariano Gracida converted apenalty shot for the first score of the match but after that it was allAudi. Goals from Kris Kampsen and JuanBollini gave Audi a 2-1 edge. St. Regisfouls sent Kampsen to the penalty line where he converted twice, 4-1. A final goal from the field ended the chukkerwith Audi in the lead, 5-1. Secondperiod goals from Mariano Gracida and Roberto Gonzalez were offset by Audigoals from Kampsen and Bollini as they rode out of the arena with a 7-3 victoryand a 1-1 record.
The U.S. Polo Assn.returned to the arena for the final two chukkers of the first round-robin,meeting a demoralized St. Regis trio.
Tommy Biddle, polo’s only10-goal arena polo player took immediate advantage of the momentum that the U.S.Polo Assn. team had created in the opening chukkers as he scored threeconsecutive goals, 3-0. The U.S. PoloAssn.’s defense was as efficient as was their attack as they held St. Regisscoreless.
Two more goals from Biddlein the ensuing period and a pair of goals from teammate Grant Ganzi were morethan enough to offset a single goal from Mariano Gracida as they scored theirsecond consecutive win, 7-1.
Piaget downs Flex Jet and Aspen Valley Polo Club
Piaget (Marc Ganzi, JeffHall and Nic Roldan) galloped past Flex Jet (Tommy Kato, Marten Pepa and LuisEscobar) and the Aspen Valley Polo Club (Juan Bollini, Jr., Andres Gonzalez andAlejandro Novillo Astrada) in the second round-robin of the day to record a 2-0record on their way to Friday’s semifinals at Rio Grande Park in Aspen.
Piaget got first chukkergoals from Nic Roldan and Jeff Hall (penalty conversion) while shutting downthe Flex Jet attack for a 2-0 advantage.
Second period play sawevery player on the Piaget team score on their way to the 5-2 win. Marc Ganzi opened the second with a goal fromthe field, 3-0, followed by a tally from Flex Jet’s Martin Pepa, 3-1. Consecutive goals from Hall and Roldan hadPiaget up, 5-1, with Luis Escobar converting a penalty shot for Flex Jet to endthe match with a Piaget win.
Flex Jet remained in thearena to face the Aspen Valley Polo Club in hopes of evening its record.
Aspen Valley scored firstwith Juancito Bollini putting the ball through the goal posts from the field,1-0, but Flex Jet came to play. Consecutive goals from Tommy Kato, Martin Pepa and Luis Escobar (penaltyconversion) ended the period with Flex Jet in front, 3-1.
Scoring wasn’t as easy insecond the second period with Kato converting a penalty shot for Flex Jet’sonly goal of the chukker, 4-1. AndresGonzalez scored the final goal of the match for the 4-2 Flex Jet loss.
For the final two chukkersof the day, Piaget returned to the arena to face Aspen Valley and took promptcontrol of the match. Nic Roldan scored firstfollowed by a penalty goal from Jeff Hall, 2-0. Juancito Bollini got Aspen Valley on the scoreboard with a score, butRoldan added his second and Marc Ganzi converted a penalty shot for acomfortable 4-1 lead after the first period.
Roldan opened the secondperiod with a goal followed by two goals from Ganzi. , 7-1. Andrea Gonzalez scored twice from the field but another Ganzi goal endedthe scoring with Piaget celebrating the 8-3 victory.
On Friday afternoon at12:30pm the press will be entertained at the VIP tent at Rio Grande Parkfollowed by a game between Aspen Valley and St. Regis in a consolation matchfor 5th place.
On Saturday the tournamentsubsidiary for 3rd place will be played at 12:30pm followed by thetournament final at 2:30pm. Acelebratory party will take place in the VIP tent following the final.