Nic Roldan scoed five times as the US team beat Argentina to secure a third place finish in the 2014 Super Nations Cup in China.
A determined Argentine team (Pablo Dorignac, Tomas Ruiz Guinazu, Agustin Marquez and Martin Tassara) faced the USA (Carlitos Gracida, Andres Weisz, Nic Roldan and Mike Azzaro) for the third time in the Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Club of China.
In the debut of the tournament in 2012 Argentine squeaked past the United States in an 8-7 battle that went down to the wire. In 2013 it was the US team that scored a convincing 13-8 win over Argentina in the subsidiary final, and in 2014 the USA handed Argentina a 10-9 loss that gave the United States a second consecutive third place finish in the 24-goal international competition.
Opening goals from each team had it all even at 1-1 as the two adversaries felt one another out in the first chukker.
Second period play belonged to Argentina’s Pablo Llorente who scored twice. The Argentine defense kept the USA off of the scoreboard and left the field with a 3-1 advantage.
Llorente added two more goals to the Argentine total in the third for a comfortable 5-1 edge as the US team struggled to find a rhythm. With 1:30 left in the chukker Nic Roldan converted a penalty shot that kept the United States team in the game. At the end of the first half it was Argentina on the winning end of a 5-2 score.
Llorente scored the opening goal of the second half as Argentina stretched its lead to four goals, 6-2, but that was when the US offense woke up. Mike Azzaro blasted a backhander through the goalposts, 6-3, followed by a penalty goal from Roldan, 6-4. Azzaro found himself on the scoring end of a well-placed pass from Roldan for the final goal of the chukker as the US team rode off the field within a goal of the lead, 6-5.
Martin Tassara opened the fifth period with a goal from the field to give Argentina a 7-5 edge, but the US team stormed back. Consecutive penalty conversions from Roldan tied the game at 7-7. Roldan placed a high lofted shot in the goal mouth for teammate Andres Weisz who pushed it through to give the USA their first lead of the game, 8-7. Thirty seconds later an American foul allowed Argentina to tie it on a penalty shot and the two teams left the field all even at 8-8.
Azzaro led the US charge early in the sixth chukker, scoring the go-ahead goal, 9-8. Pablo Dorignac responded with the tying goal for Argentina, 9-9. With two minutes left in regulation time Azzaro just missed on a scoring attempt after a run at the Argentine goal. Seconds later Roldan scored his fifth goal of the day and the United States held on for an exciting come-from-behind 10-9 win and a third place finish in the 2014 Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup for the second year in a row.
In Sunday’s final Hong Kong (John Fisher, Santiago CernadasSantiago Cernadas, John Paul Clarkin and Lucas Lalor) will attempt to defend their title against a young and determined English side (Jack Richardson, George Meyrick, Max Charlton and Tom Morley) that are hoping to avenge the 2013 final loss to Hong Kong.