By Alex Webbe
Led by four goals from Nic Roldan, Piaget scored an 8-5 win over Pony Express/Santa Clara in the finals of the 2011 USPA Eastern Challenge Cup, sponsored by The Tackeria, Sunday morning at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Natascha Baecher scored the first goal for Piaget while her teammates helped shut out Pony Express/Santa Clara in the opening chukker of play for the early 1-0 lead.
Each team added a pair of gals in the second, with Roldan and Baecher scoring for Piaget while Tomas Goti converted a penalty shot and Bob Daniels scored a goal from the field for Pony Express/Santa Clara. At the end of two chukkers of play Piaget held a narrow 3-2 advantage.
Pony Express/Santa Clara cranked it up a notch in the third, frustrating the Piaget offense with shutout defense while picking up the tying goal from Goti. At the end of the first half t was all even at 3-3.
Roldan and Baecher added single goals again in the fourth for Piaget while holding Pony Express/Santa Clara to a goal from the field from Goti. Piaget had moved out in front once again, 5-4.
The pace continued to quicken in the fifth period as Pony Express/Santa Clara’s Hector Galindo tied it at 5-5 with his first goal of the day. Juan Badiola responded for Piaget, following up a run at goal by Baecher by tapping the ball through for a 6-5 Piaget lead. Moments later, Roldan gave Piaget a two goal lead, 7-5, with his third goal of the game.
The Pony Express/Santa Clara continued to press the Piaget goal throughout the sixth chukker, but miscued goal shots frustrated both Goti and Galindo. Roldan would score the final goal of the match on a penalty shot for the 8-5 Piaget victory.
Roldan led all scoring with four goals. Baecher scored three times and Badiola added a goal in the Piaget win.
Goti led the Pony Express/Santa Clara attack with three goals. Daniels and Galindo each scored a goal in a losing effort.
Natascha Baecher was named MVP while Miss Rock and Roll, a nine-year-old Bay mare ridden by Nic Roldan and owned by Marc and Melissa Ganzi was honored as Best Playing Pony.
TRES VINOS AND AUDI/NEWPORT PLAY TO A 9-9 TIE
In earlier play, Tres Vinos and Audi/Newport played to a 9-9 tie in the consolation bracket of the 2011 USPA Eastern Challenge Cup.
Gene Goldstein scored the only goal of the first chukker as both teams felt one another out in the opening period of the game, and Audi/Newport took a 1-0 lead after the opening seven minutes of competition.
Tres vinos got goals from Brandon Phillips (penalty shot) and Tommy Biddle in the second frame, but Audi/Newport answered back. A pair of goals from Marc Ganzi and a single goal from Lucas Lalor extended the Audi/Newport lead to 4-2 after two chukkers of action.
Goldstein made it 5-2, Audi/Newport, in the third before Tres Vinos rushed back with goals from Phillips and Biddle. The first half ended with Audi/Newport holding on to a paper thin 5-4 lead, with Tres Vinos breathing down their neck.
Lalor accounted for the only Audi/Newport goal of the fourth chukker while Tres Vinos climbed into the driver’s seat. Single goals from Tres Vinos team captain Omar Trevino, Phillips and Biddle put them in the lead for the first time all morning with a 7-6 advantage.
Audi/Newport stormed back in the fifth, playing lights-out defense while picking up a pair of goals from Sugar Erskine that had Tres Vinos trailing, once again, 8-7.
Lalor scored the opening goal of the final chukker for a 9-7 Audi/Newport edge, but Tres Vinos wasn’t ready to concede anything. Two sixth chukker goals from Phillips ended the game in a 9-9 tie, which satisfied everyone on the field in the tournament’s consolation round of play.
Phillips set the pace for Tres Vinos with five goals on the day while Biddle added three goals and a number of well-placed assists in the neck-and-neck contest. Trevino scored a single goal for Tres Vinos.
A balanced Audi/Newport attack had Ganzi, Erskine and Goldstein scoring two goals apiece. Lucas Lalor scored three times and was named MVP for his efforts.