By Alex Webbe
In an exciting day of high-goal polo, Lucchese (3-0) and Piocho Ranch (2-1) sewed up positions in Sunday’s finals of the 2010 USPA Lucchese America Cup at the Santa Barbara Polo Club, but they did it in very different styles.
In early afternoon competition, 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso led Lucchese (3-0) to a hotly contested 12-11 victory over winless Mansour (0-3), but was forced to get three goals from his team to rebound from a fifth chukker, one goal deficit.
Lucchese scored early and often, taking an early 4-2 lead after the first chukker. Jason Crowder scored the first goal of the game but was answered by a goal from the field by Mansour’s Luis Escobar. Andres Weisz scored his first goal of the game for Lucchese, but was countered by a penalty goal from Mansour’s Martin Zegers. Cambiaso scored the last goal of the chukker, and Lucchese rode off with a 4-2 first chukker lead.
Zegers opened the second chukker with a penalty goal and Santiago Toccalino’s first goal of the game tied it all at 4-4, but Lucchese wasn’t done yet. Goals from Cambiaso and Crowder kept Lucchese on top at the end of two, 6-4.
Defenses on both sides tightened in the third chukker, with Weisz scoring a single goal from the field for Lucchese while Zegers converted a penalty shot for Mansour’s only goal of the chukker. The first half ended with Lucchese holding on to a 7-5 advantage.
Zegers scored his fourth goal of the game in the fourth period, converting a penalty shot, followed by a pair of goals from Toccalino. Cambiaso converted a penalty shot for Lucchese’s only score of the chukker. With only two chukkers to play, the score was knotted at 8-8.
Weisz’s third goal of the game gave Lucchese a short-lived 9-8 edge, but Mansour charged back. Escobar tied it again at 9-9 with a penalty goal, and Toccalino put Mansour ahead, 10-9, with his fourth goal of the game.
Three straight goals from Lucchese had the tournament favorite up 12-10 as the clock started to wind down. Escobar’s third goal of the game brought Mansour to within a goal of Lucchese, but with both teams battling for control of the ball, time expired, and Lucchese rode a 12-11 win into the tournament finals.
Cambiaso led all scoring with five goals. Crowder added four goals and Weisz chipped in three in the win.
Toccalino and Zegers scored four goals apiece. Escobar tallied three times for Mansour.
GRANTS FARM 16, PIOCHO RANCH 15
With team captain Tom Barrack sitting on the sidelines with a broken hand, Grants Farm won a hard-fought shootout with the Gracida brothers, 16-15, but still managed to lose a berth in the America Cup finals.
Grants Farm took an early 4-3 lead after getting three first chukker goals from 7-goaler Sugar Erskine and a single goal from Cachi Garcia-Velez. Carlos Gracida accounted for all three Piocho goals, getting two on penalty shots and the third from the field.
Piocho stormed back in the second period, with a pair of goals from Carlos Gracida and a single goal from older brother Memo. Piocho took a narrow 6-5 lead into the third chukker.
Single goals from Carlos and Memo kept Piocho in the running, but Grants Farm got two goals from Jeff Blake and a single goal from team captain Andy Busch. The first half ended in an 8-8 deadlock.
Carlos Gracida converted two more penalty shots and Matias Zavaleta scored from the field. Three more goals from Erskine kept the match even at 11-11.
Geronimo Obregon and Memo Gracida scored single goals in the fifth, but Grants Farm came back with four goals of its own for a 15-13 lead. Blake scored twice and Grants Farm got single goals from Erskine and Garcia-Velez.
Erskine scored for the ninth time to open the final chukker, and despite two goals from Carlos Gracida, held on for the 16-15 win.
The win threw three Bracket II teams (Piocho, Grants Farm and Zacara) into a three-way tie, with Piocho earning the right to face Lucchese in the finals by virtue of net goals scored.
Carlos Gracida led all scoring with ten goals. Memo Gracida added three, and Zavaleta and Obregon accounted for single goals in the loss.
Erskine led the Grants Farm attack with nine goals. Blake scored four times; Garcia-Velez chipped in two and Busch added a goal for the win.
ZACARA 10, AUDI 9
In a morning match, Zacara struggled to keep its slim chance at a spot in the finals alive by beating previously winless Audi, but it wasn’t as easy as had been anticipated.
After taking an early 3-1 lead (two goals from team captain Lyndon Lea and a penalty goal from Jeff Hall), Zacara watched Audi climb right back into the game with a three goal third chukker to tie the game at 5-5 at the end of the first half.
Goals from Hilario Ulloa and Carlitos Gracida had Zacara up by two goals. A late score from Audi 10-goaler Lolo Castagnola ended the chukker with Zacara holding on to a precarious 7-6 advantage.
Gracida scored to put Zacara up, 8-6, in the fifth period, but consecutive goals from Ulysses Escapite, Marc Ganzi and Castagnola gave Audi a 9-8 lead going into the final chukker.
Zacara owned the field in the final seven minutes of play, getting goals from Hall and Ulloa while shutting down the Audi offense. Zacara escaped with a 10-9 win, but lost any realistic shot at making the finals.
VALIENTE 10, ERG 10
The final match of the day fully illustrated how competitive the teams have been. After battling to a 3-3 halftime score, and being all even at 5-5 after four chukkers of play, Valiente charged out to a 9-6 lead after five chukkers of play, only to let ERG stage a last chukker rally and tie it all at 10-10.
In fifth chukker play, Valiente got a pair of goals from Kris Kampsen and single goals from Nacho Astrada and Santiago Bottaro. Paco De Narvaez converted a penalty shot for ERG’s only goal of the chukker, and Valiente had a 9-6 lead with one chukker left to play.
ERG cranked up the offense in the final period, forcing the Valiente into fouls and tying the game at 10-10 with De Narvaez converting three penalty shots and Silvestre Donovan scoring one goal from the field.
Valiente was held to a single penalty goal from Nacho Astrada.
In an effort to save their horses for the next tournament, the Bombardier Pacific Coast Open, the teams agreed to decide the game by the flip of a coin, which Valiente won.
De Narvaez led ERG with seven goals. Donovan added two goals and Santiago Torres added a goal.
Kampsen scored five times for Valiente. Astrada added four goals and Bottaro scored once.
