By Alex Webbe
The 2012 USPA Spring Classic got underway on Friday afternoon with a 3PM match between Equine Law (Joaquin Panelo, Juan Redlich, Kris Kampsen and Avery Chapman) and Ruby Q (Brian Street, Diego Coscio, Nacho Badiola and Joey Casey) followed by a round-robin competition featuring Pony Express/Tuff Rider (Bob Daniels, J. J. Celis, Tomas Goti and Timmy Sharma), Piaget/Longfield (Hannah Buchan, Melissa Ganzi, Juan Bollini and Jeff Hall) and Endeavor/Audi (Lucas Lalor, Marc Ganzi, Nic Roldan and Larry Austin) on the grounds of the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Ruby Q took care of business in the opener by scoring a 10-9 win over Equine Law in a match that was tied six times.
Ruby Q’s Nacho Badiola converted a penalty shot for a goal to start the tournament, but Equine Law responded with a goal from the field from Juan Redlich. Diego Coscio closed out the first chukker for a 2-2; Equine Law received one goal by handicap.
A three goal outburst by Equine Law gave them a 5-4 lead, picking up scores from Kris Kampsen, Avery Chapman (penalty goal) and Redlich. Badiola accounted for two goals from Ruby Q in the second chukker (one from the field and one on a penalty shot).
Ruby Q galloped back into the game in the third period, picking up a pair of goals from Badiola (one from the field and one on a penalty shot). Teammate Coscio added a single goal for the 7-6 advantage. Equine Law managed a single goal from Chapman as Ruby Q took a one goal lead at the end of the first half.
Redlich tied it up at 7-7 on a penalty shot to open the second half, but Badiola answered with a pair of penalty shots and a goal from the field. After four chukkers of play, Ruby Q held a handy 10-7 advantage.
Defenses tightened in the fifth chukker, and despite a number of close shots at goal, there was no scoring in the penultimate period. The score held with Ruby Q ahead, 10-7.
Equine Law stepped it up in the final chukker. Redlich scored his fourth goal of the afternoon and Chapman added another penalty goal, but the efforts fell short as Ruby Q rode off with the 10-9 win.
Ruby Q’s Badiola led all scoring with eight goals (four on penalty shots). Coscio scored twice in the victory.
Redlich scored four goals for Equine Law (one by penalty). Chapman added three goals (two on penalty shots) and Kampsen was credited with one goal.
ENDEAVOR/AUDI WINS ROUND-ROBIN
Endeavor/Audi scored a win over Piaget/Longfield and a tie against Pony Express/Tuff Rider to take the round-robin Friday afternoon and earn a berth in Sunday’s USPA Spring Classic finals against Ruby Q.
Pony Express/Tuff Rider and Piaget battled to a 4-4 draw in the opening round of the round-robin.
Bob Daniels put Pony Express/Tuff Rider ahead early, 1-0, with the only goal of the first chukker as the teams tried to get a handle on one another.
Goals from Tomas Goti and J. J. Celis had Pony Express/Tuff Rider in front 3-0 in the second chukker before Piaget got on the scoreboard. Jeff Hall scored the closing goal of the period as Piaget trailed 3-1.
Piaget finally caught fire in the third chukker, picking up goals from Hannah Buchan, Juan Bollini and Hall. Goti responded with a goal from the field for Pony Express/Tuff Rider for the 4-4 tie.
ENDEAVOR/AUDI 5, PONY EXPRESS/TUFF RIDER 5
Endeavor/Audi scored two quick goals against Pony Express/Tuff Rider as the second round of the round-robin got underway. A penalty conversion from Marc Ganzi and a goal from the field for Lucas Lalor gave Endeavor/Audi a 2-0 lead. Tomas Goti responded with a goal for Pony Express/Tuff Rider to end the chukker trailing 2-1.
Two more goals from Endeavor/Audi went unanswered in the second period. Nic Roldan scored a goal from the field and Larry Austin converted a penalty shot. After two chukkers, Endeavor/Audi led by three goals, 4-1.
Roldan added another goal to the Endeavor/Audi total in the third chukker but a resilient Pony Express/Tuff Rider team fought back. Tomas Goti and J. J. Celis each scored a pair of goals for a 5-5 deadlock.
ENDEAVOR/AUDI 5, PIAGET 3
Endeavor/Audi scored the only win of in the competition with a 5-3 victory over Piaget/Longfield to end the day.
Jeff Hall got Piaget/Longfield on the scoreboard first with a penalty conversion, 1-0. Lucas Lalor responded for Endeavor/Audi with a goal from the field and a 1-1 tie.
Juan Bollini scored his second goal of the afternoon to give Piaget/Longfield a brief 2-1 lead, but Marc Ganzi had it all even with a goal from the field, 2-2. Larry Austin suffered a fall and a broken collar bone midway through the chukker and was replaced by Juancito Bollini, and play continued. A goal from the field from Nic Roldan and a penalty goal from Ganzi ended the period with Endeavor/Audi on top, 4-2.
The two teams exchanged goals in the final chukker with Juan Bollini scoring first for Piaget/Longfield and Roldan closing out the scoring with a goal from the field for Endeavor/Audi.
The victory boosted Endeavor/Audi into Sunday’s 11:30 AM finals against Ruby Q while Piaget/Longfield, Pony Express/Tuff Rider and Equine Law will face-off in a round=robin on Sunday at 10AM.