By Alex Webbe
Under threatening skies, five teams filled out the field at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington for the 2010 USPA Eastern Challenge Friday afternoon where they competed in head to head play and a round-robin competition to decide who would participate in Sunday’s finals.
Longfield/Equine Law (Hannah Buchan, Jason Crowder, Jeff Hall and Avery Chapman) scored a narrow 14-13 win over Newport/Tuff Rider (Gene Goldstein, Timmy Sharma, Nacho Badiola and Joey Casey) to open the day.
Newport/Tuff Rider received two goals by handicap from the 14-goal Longfield/Equine Law team and added a penalty goal by Timmy Sharma to the pot in the opening chukker. Longfield/Equine Law team picked up a penalty goal from Jeff Hall and a goal from the field from Jason Crowder. Newport/Tuff Rider led 3-2 after the first period.
Sharma added two more penalty goals to the Newport/Tuff Rider total in the second, but a pair of goals from Hall and a single goal from Crowder tied it up at 5-5.
Newport/Tuff Rider bounced back in the third period, scoring three unanswered goals for an 8-5 halftime lead. Nacho Badiola and Gene Goldstein scored single goals from the field while Sharma added his fourth goal of the day on a penalty conversion.
Hall led the Longfield/Equine response in the second half with a pair of fourth chukker scores (one from the field and one on a penalty shot). Avery Chapman scored his first goal of the afternoon to tie it up at 8-8. Sharma closed out the chukker with his fifth goal of the day for a 9-8 Newport/Tuff Rider lead.
Crowder scored twice and Hannah Buchan scored once in the fifth chukker as Longfield/Equine Law charged ahead, 11-9. Goldstein, however, scored back to back goals for Newport/Tuff Rider to even it up at 11-11 with one chukker left in regulation time.
Goldstein scored to open the sixth chukker as Newport/Tuff Rider took a narrow 12-11 lead. A penalty goal from Sharma had them ahead, 13-11, but Longfield/Equine Law wasn’t finished. Two goals from Hall tied it up at 13-13 with Crowder scoring the winning goal in the 14-13 Longfield/Equine Law victory.
Hall led all scoring with seven goals (two on penalty shots). Crowder scored twice with Chapman and Buchan adding single goals in the win.
Sharma set the pace for the Newport/Tuff Rider lineup with six goals (five on penalty shots). Goldstein was credited with four goals and Badiola added a goal in a losing effort. Newport/Tuff Rider also received two goals by handicap.
PONY EXPRESS RIDES INTO FINALS
Pony Express and Cinque Terre ended Friday afternoon’s round-robin with identical 1-0-1 records with Pony Express earning a berth in Sunday’s finals by virtue of net goals scored.
Cinque Terre (Juancito Bollini, Lucas Lalor, Kris Kampsen and Marc Ganzi) opened the round-robin play with a 5-4 win over Ruby Q (Brian Street, J. J. Celis, Diego Cossio and Joaquin Panelo) with Marc Ganzi scoring three of Cinque Terre’s five goals (two on penalty shots). Kris Kampsen and Juancito Bollini added single goals. J. J. Celis scored three times for Ruby Q (twice on penalty conversions) and Joaquin Panelo added a goal in the loss.
Ruby Q held the field for the ensuing three chukkers and was soundly drubbed by Pony Express, 6-2. Bob Daniels and 7-goaler Tomas Goti each scored three goals in the win (two of Daniels’ goals came on penalty shots). Celis scored both of the Ruby Q goals.
Undefeated Pony Express and Cinque Terre faced off in the final match of the round-robin that ended in a 4-4 tie. Cinque Terre got two goals from Marc Ganzi (one by penalty), and single goals from Lucas Lalor and Juancito Bollini. Tomas Goti led the Pony Express attack with three goals (one by penalty). Juan Bollini scored once in the tie.
By virtue of net goals, Pony Express earned a spot in Sunday’s 11:30 am 2012 USPA Eastern Challenge finals against Longfield/Equine Law while Newport/Tuff Rider, Cinque Terre and Ruby Q will compete in a 9:30 am round-robin subsidiary