By Alex Webbe

Tom Barrack’s Piocho Ranch team rode to the field with 16-goal lineup in the opening round of the 20-goal Mayors Cup at the Santa Barbara Polo Club Friday afternoon and made short work of a talented Valiente team in a 15-10 rout.

Kris Kampsen scored the opening goal of the game but the day belonged to Piocho.

“They were ready,” offered Kampsen, “their horses were in top form and they were ready, “ he repeated.

Piocho Ranch received four goals by handicap, as Julio Gracida was filling in for his uncle Carlos, but the young Gracida made no apologies as he added three goals in the opening chukker to give his team an early 7-1 lead.

With Matias Zavaleta and Julio Gracida at the front end of the Piocho Ranch attack and Memo Gracida anchoring down the Number 3 spot, the Valiente team found itself struggling to put up an adequate defense.

Nacho Astrada converted a penalty shot in the second frame, and young Juan Carlos Harriott added a goal from the field for Valiente, but Julio Gracida’s fourth goal of the game kept Piocho on top, 8-3.

Memo Gracida drove in a pair of goals in the third chukker to give Piocho a 10-3 edge, but another penalty conversion from Astrada and Kampsen’s second goal of the day cut the lead to five goals, with Piocho riding off the field with a 10-5 halftime lead.

“We made a couple adjustments at halftime,” said Memo Gracida, but there really wasn’t much to say.  We just stuck to our game plan and continued to press our attack.”

Valiente bounced back in the fourth chukker with a pair of goals from Astrada and another goal from Kampsen.  Julio Gracida converted his second penalty shot, and the chukker ended with Piocho on top, 11-8.

“The boys (Julio and Matias) were playing well up front,” said Memo Gracida, “and Tom (Barrack) gave us an added defensive punch.  I felt as though we were in control from the beginning throw-in to the final whistle.”

Piocho Ranch played shutout defense in the fifth chukker, with Zavaleta’s first goal of the game making it 12-8 going into the final chukker.

Zavaleta added two more in the final period, and Julio Gracida notched his sixth of the game as Valiente could only muster single goals from Kampsen and Astrada to close out the game in a 15-10 Piocho Ranch win.

MANSOUR 12, AUDI 10

Earlier in the day, Ben Soleimani’s Mansour team got off to a roaring start with a 12-10 win over Melissa Ganzi’s Audi foursome, 12-10.

Martin Zegers scored the only goal in the first chukker to give Mansour the early lead as both teams struggled to coordinate an effective attack.

Juan Bollini got Audi on the scoreboard in the second when he converted a Penalty 2, but Mansour answered with single goals from Zegers and Luis Escobar, and left the field with a 3-1 lead after the first two chukkers of play.

Escobar exploded for three more goals in the third chukker and Zegers added another as Mansour charged off with a 7-3 lead.  Audi was held to a pair of goals from 10-goaler Lolo Castagnola as the first half ended.

Zegers added three goals of his own in the fourth period and Escobar scored his fifth goal of the contest for an 11-4 advantage.  A penalty goal from Del Walton accounted for Audi’s sole offense of the chukker.

Melissa Ganzi opened the scoring in the fifth frame and was followed by a single goal from Bollini and a pair of goals from Walton.  Disciplined defense kept Mansour from scoring for the first time all day as Audi cut the lead to three goals, 11-8.

Sixth chukker goals from Castagnola and Walton cut the Mansour lead to a single goal, 11-10, but Escobar rose to the occasion with his sixth goal of the game for the 12-10 win.

On Sunday Mansour will face Piocho Ranch in the Mayor’s Cup finals while Valiente and Audi will meet in the consolation round of play.

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