By Alex Webbe
Juan Bollini scored five times in leading Piaget to an 11-9 win over a game Elangani Ranch team Friday morning in the 2010 USPA Kay Colee Memorial Cup at the Grand Champions Polo Club.
Piaget received one goal by handicap from the 13-goal Elangani Ranch team and quickly added to it with an opening goal from David Krantz and a pair of penalty goals from Bollini. Diego Coscio finally got Elangani Ranch on the scoreboard with a closing goal in the first chukker. Piaget left the field with a 4-1 lead.
Krantz scored again in the second to put Piaget up 5-1, but Elangani Ranch galloped back into the game. A pair of goals from Coscio closed the gap, cutting the Piaget lead to two goals, 5-3.
Elangani Ranch elevated its game in the third, betting goals from Joey Casey and Steven Scott and knotting it up at 5-5. Juan Badiola scored his first goal of the game for Piaget, however, and Elangani Ranch trailed 6-5 at the end of the first half.
Scott’s second goal of the match tied it in the opening minute of the fourth chukker, 6-6, but Bollini answered back for Piaget with a goal for a 7-6 lead. Casey picked up the ball in the Elangani Ranch end of the field and carried it nearly 200 yards up the field for the tying goal and the last score of the chukker.
Scott put Elangani Ranch on top, 8-7, in the fifth period, but Piaget was ready to crank up its own offense. Bollini scored a penalty goal and Badiola added a goal from the field. Piaget held on to a narrow 9-8 lead with one chukker to play.
Piaget kept the pressure on in the sixth, getting goals from Bollini and Krantz for an 11-8 lead with two minutes left to play. Scot scored his fourth goal of the game, but that was all the offense Elangani Ranch could muster in the final chukker. Piaget took the game in an 11-9 win.
Bollini led all scoring with five goals. Krantz added three and Badiola chipped in two more. Piaget got one goa; by handicap.
Scott accounted for four goals for Elangani Ranch. Coscio scored three times and Casey added a pair in the loss.
BARBAROSSA LEATHER DOWNS NEWPORT and PATAGONES IN ROUND-ROBIN
Barbarossa Leather gained the other playoff spot by scoring 6-3 and 5-4 wins over Newport and Patagones, respectively, in round-robin competition to secure the other berth in Sunday’s finals of the 2010 USPA Kay Colee Memorial Cup.
Barbarossa Leather got four goals from team captain Leo Mandelbaum and a single goal from Matias Sosa in the opening three chukkers of round-robin play. Newport got two goals from Gene Goldstein and a single goal from Hector Galindo in the loss.
With Barbarossa Leather watching from the sidelines, Patagones took the field and snuck past Newport in a 6-5 contest. Patagones was led by three goals from Marc Ganzi, a pair from Diego Arellano and a single goal from South African 7-goaler Sugar Erskine.
Newport got three goals from Galindo and single goals from Goldstein and J. J. Celis, but missed penalty shots were the difference in the one goal loss.
With Newport eliminated, the final three chukkers of play pitted Patagones against Barbarossa Leather, with the winner going on to meet Piaget in the tournament finals.
Barbarossa Leather scored first on a goal from Carlucho Arellano, but Patagones responded with a pair of penalty goals from Marc Ganzi, taking an early 2-1 lead after the first chukker. Three straight goals from Barbarossa Leather (two from Carlucho Arellano and one from Julio Ezcurra) in the second chukker had them ahead 4-3, as their defense held Patagones to a single penalty goal from Ganzi.
The final chukker was a fast-moving battle up and down the field as both teams struggled to score. Carlucho Arellano’s fourth goal of the match, had Barbarossa Leather up, 5-3, with time running out, and despite a last minute rally and a Sugar Erskine goal, Barbarossa Leather took the game, 5-4, and earned the right to play Piaget for the trophy on Sunday afternoon.