Piaget
and Grand Champions record wins in USPA National Twenty-Goal competition
By
Alex Webbe
Piaget (Melissa Ganzi, Jeff Hall, Juan Bollini and Juan
Badiola) defeated Daniel & Henry (Julio Ezcurra, Stevie Orthwein, Carlucho
Arellano and Diego Cossio) 9-5 in 2012 USPA National Twenty-Goal competition
while Grand Champions (Wes Finlayson, Jason Crowder, Tommy Biddle and Joey
Casey) rallied to register a 9-8 overtime win over La Karina (Brian Boyd,
Esteban Panelo, Brandon Phillips and Mariano Gonzalez) in the second game of
the high-goal double-header Wednesday afternoon at the Palm City Polo Club in
Boca Raton, Florida.
Juan Bollini scored the only goal of the opening chukker
as both teams felt out one another.
Piaget took the 1-0 lead into the second chukker.
Jeff Hall added two penalty goals to the Piaget total in
the second period. Daniel & Henry
scored on a well-placed angle shot from Argentine 5-goaler Julio Ezcurra.
After two, Piaget held a 3-1 advantage over Daniel & Henry.
Piaget and Daniel & Henry exchanged single goals in
the third. Juan Badiola scored first to
put Piaget in the lead, 4-1. Stevie
Orthwein countered with a goal for Daniel & Henry. The first half ended with Daniel & Henry
trailing Piaget, 4-2.
Halfway through the fourth chukker Hall intercepted a
Daniel & Henry pass at midfield and carried it 150 yards down the field for
a score. Hall added another goal less
than a minute later while the Piaget defense shut out the Daniel & Henry
offense for a 6-2 lead.
Hall scored on another penalty shot in the fifth. Teammate Badiola added two more goals as
Piaget extended its lead to six goals, 9-3.
Ezcurra accounted for the only Daniel & Henry goal.
Piaget watched Orthwein score two goals in the sixth
chukker without responding. The final
horn sounded, giving Piaget the 9-5 win.
Hall scored five times for Piaget. Badiola added three goals and Bollini
recorded a score for the victory.
Orthwein led the Daniel & Henry attack with three
goals. Ezcurra scored twice in the loss.
GRAND
CHAMPIONS 9, LA KARINA 8 OT
Grand Champions (Wes Finlayson, Jason Crowder, Tommy
Biddle and Joey Casey) trailed 5-3 at the end of the first half but rallied to
register a 9-8 overtime win over an aggressive La Karina (Brian Boyd, Esteban
Panelo, Brandon Phillips and Mariano Gonzalez) attack.
La Karina received one goal by handicap from the 18-goal
Grand Champions team but was held scoreless in the opening chukker. Jason Crowder tied it up at 1-1 as both teams
had trouble finding the range of the opponent’s goal.
Scoring continued to elude the teams in the second
period. Mariano Gonzalez converted a 60-yard
penalty shot for the only goal of the chukker.
La Karina was now up by a single goal, 2-1.
Both offenses opened up in the third. Brandon Phillips scored two goals in the
space of a minute while teammate Esteban Panelo’s single goal had La Karina on
top, 5-3. Grand Champions got goals from
Tommy Biddle and Crowder but trailed by two goals at the end of the first half,
5-3.
Both defenses buckled down in the second half. Crowder scored the only goal of the fourth
chukker. La Karina continued to lead,
5-4.
Single goals from Panelo (penalty conversion) and
Phillips had La Karina ahead, 7-4.
Biddle scored from the field and the fifth chukker ended with La Karina
defending a 7-5 advantage.
Joey Casey scored back to back goals in the sixth period
to tie it up at 7-7, and Biddle gave Grand champions the narrow 8-7 lead with
his third goal of the day. With time
running out, Panelo broke free and scored the tying goal, 8-8. The horn sounded and the teams were headed
into sudden-death overtime.
Less than a minute into the extra chukker, Casey carried
the ball toward the La Karina goal where he converted to give Grand Champions
the 9-8 victory.
Crowder, Biddle and Casey scored three goals apiece for
the win. Panelo and Phillips each
recorded three goals. Gonzalez added a
goal and the team received one goal by handicap.
Competition in the National Twenty-Goal is scheduled to
continue on Friday at the Grand Champions Polo Club with KIG (1-0) meeting
Piaget (1-0) at 1PM. At 3:30PM, Audi
(1-0) is slated to face La Karina (0-1).
Tournament finals are set for Sunday at 3PM.