USPA
National Twenty-Goal Championship finals set
By
Alex Webbe
Wins by Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlos Gracida, Nic Roldan and
Carlitos Gracida) and Piaget (Melissa Ganzi, Jeff Hall, Juan Bollini and Juan
Badiola) Friday afternoon set the stage for a rematch of the finals of the
North America Cup as the two teams will face one another in the finals of the 2012
USPA National Twenty-Goal tournament.
Audi secured the first berth in the finals with a 10-7
win over a La Karina team (Brian Boyd, Esteban Panelo, Brandon Phillips and
Mariano Gonzalez) that couldn’t quite match the runs and passes of their
opponent.
La Karina received one goal by handicap but watched Audi
team captain Marc Ganzi convert a pair of penalty shots. La Karina was unable to score and fell
behind, 2-1.
Argentine 7-goaler Mariano Gonzalez scored two unanswered
goals in the second chukker, converting a penalty shot and adding another goal
from the field. La Karina left the field
with a one goal lead, 3-2.
Marc Ganzi added two more goals to the Audi total in the
third, scoring once from the field and adding another penalty goal as
well. For the second time in three
chukkers La Karina couldn’t score a goal.
Audi led after the first half of play, 4-3.
The pace picked up in the fourth with Nic Roldan scoring
to put Audi ahead, 5-3, but La Karina stormed back. Mariano Gonzalez scored on a penalty shot, 5-4. Carlitos Gracida’s goal put Audi back on top
with a two goals lead, 6-4, but La Karina continued to press the attack. A final penalty conversion from Mariano
Gonzalez ended the chukker with Audi on top, 6-5.
Nic Roldan opened the fifth chukker with a goal for Audi,
7-5, but La Karina wasn’t going to give up without a fight. A penalty goal from Esteban Panelo ended the
period with La Karina trailing by a single goal, 7-6.
A goal from Roldan was countered by a scoring shot from Gonzalez. Audi defended the narrow one goal lead, 8-7,
with three minutes left to play in regulation time, but that was when Audi came
to life. Consecutive goals from the field
from Roldan and Carlos Gracida ended the match with Audi scoring the win and
earning an invitation to Sunday’s 3PM finals.
Marc Ganzi and Nic Roldan scored four goals apiece. Teammates Carlos and Carlitos Gracida scored
single goals in the win.
Mariano Gonzalez’s five goals led all scorers in the
game. Esteban Panelo added a goal and La
Karina received one goal by handicap.
PIAGET
10, KIG 8
In the second match of the afternoon, Piaget took
advantage of a second half rally to defeat KIG (Bash Kazi, Hector Galindo,
Sugar Erskine and Kris Kampsen) and earn a ticket to Sunday’s USPA National
Twenty-Goal finals against Audi.
An interesting dynamic of the final pairing include the
fact that husband (Marc Ganzi) and wife (Melissa) are meeting one week after
the two fought one another in the finals of the USPA North America Cup (Audi
turned the tide on a last chukker rally to register a 6-5 win).
The 18-goal Piaget team received one goal by handicap but
was unable to score in the opening chukker.
A penalty goal from KIG’s Kris Kampsen and a goal from the field from
Hector Galindo ended the first period with KIG protecting a narrow 2-1
advantage.
Runs up and down the field were punctuated by shots that
sailed wide of goal before Kampsen finally connected to move KIG in front,
3-1. Hall scored on a penalty shot and
the chukker ended with KIG still leading by a goal, 3-2.
Goals from Galindo and Kampsen (penalty) were answered by
two penalty goals from Hall. KIG ended
the first half with a narrow 5-4 lead.
A fresh Piaget opened the second half with an onslaught
of goals with Juan Bollini scoring for the first time on the day and Hall
adding three more to the Audi total (two on penalty conversions), 8-5. Piaget had finally wrestled the lead away
from KIG and was looking forward to a Sunday rematch with Audi.
Hall’s seventh goal of the game had Piaget extending its
lead to four goals, 9-5. Goals from the
field from Kampsen and Galindo cut the lead to two goals. The fifth chukker ended with Piaget holding
on to a 9-7 edge.
KIG pressured Piaget into fouling with less than two
minutes to play. Kampsen converted the
penalty shot, but that was the end of it.
The final horn sounded with Piaget celebrating its 10-8 victory.
Hall led all scoring with eight goals (six on penalty
shots). Bollini added a goal and the
team received one goal by handicap.
Kampsen set the pace for KIG with five goals (three on
penalty shots). Galindo added three more
goals in the loss.