Piaget 8-goaler Nic Roldan scored five goals in wins over Flex Jet and Aspen Valley Friday in the 2014 Piaget Aspen World Snow Polo Championship.

The U.S. Polo Assn. team (Grant Ganzi, Brandon Phillips and Tommy Biddle) and Piaget (Marc Ganzi, Jeff Hall and Nic Roldan) were the big winners Thursday in the opening round of play in the 2014 USPA Piaget World Snow Polo Championship at Carbondale’s Aspen Valley Polo Club arena.

Two round-robins saw six teams competing in the first games of the 2014 snow polo season as the U.S. Polo Assn. and Piaget entries scored two wins apiece in Thursday’s action.

In the opening round –robin the U.S. Polo Assn. team’s Tommy Biddle scored four times to lift his team to a 5-2 win over Audi.

Kris Kampsen scored the opening goal of the day for Audi, but Biddle responded with a goal for the U.S. Polo Assn., 1-1.  Kampsen put Audi in front, 2-1 with his second goal of the match, 2-1.  Again, Biddle answered back for the U.S. Polo Assn., 2-2.  Kampsen’s third goal closed out the first chukker with Audi on top of a 3-2 score.

The second period belonged to the U.S. Polo Assn. as they scored three unanswered goals for the 5-2 win.  Biddle and Brandon Phillips scored single goals from the field to give the U.S. Polo Assn. the lead, 4-3.  Shutout defense and a final penalty goal from Biddle gave the U.S. Polo Assn. the win, 5-3.

Audi remained in the arena to face St. Regis (Alejandro Gonzalez, Mariano Gracida and Roberto Gonzalez) for the second two chukker mini-match of the day.

Mariano Gracida converted a penalty shot for the first score of the match but after that it was all Audi.  Goals from Kris Kampsen and Juan Bollini gave Audi a 2-1 edge.  St. Regis fouls sent Kampsen to the penalty line where he converted twice, 4-1.  A final goal from the field ended the chukker with Audi in the lead, 5-1.  Second period goals from Mariano Gracida and Roberto Gonzalez were offset by Audi goals from Kampsen and Bollini as they rode out of the arena with a 7-3 victory and a 1-1 record.

The U.S. Polo Assn. returned to the arena for the final two chukkers of the first round-robin, meeting a demoralized St. Regis trio.

Tommy Biddle, polo’s only 10-goal arena polo player took immediate advantage of the momentum that the U.S. Polo Assn. team had created in the opening chukkers as he scored three consecutive goals, 3-0.  The U.S. Polo Assn.’s defense was as efficient as was their attack as they held St. Regis scoreless.

Two more goals from Biddle in the ensuing period and a pair of goals from teammate Grant Ganzi were more than enough to offset a single goal from Mariano Gracida as they scored their second consecutive win, 7-1.

Piaget downs Flex Jet and Aspen Valley Polo Club

Piaget (Marc Ganzi, Jeff Hall and Nic Roldan) galloped past Flex Jet (Tommy Kato, Marten Pepa and Luis Escobar) and the Aspen Valley Polo Club (Juan Bollini, Jr., Andres Gonzalez and Alejandro Novillo Astrada) in the second round-robin of the day to record a 2-0 record on their way to Friday’s semifinals at Rio Grande Park in Aspen.

Piaget got first chukker goals from Nic Roldan and Jeff Hall (penalty conversion) while shutting down the Flex Jet attack for a 2-0 advantage.

Second period play saw every player on the Piaget team score on their way to the 5-2 win.  Marc Ganzi opened the second with a goal from the field, 3-0, followed by a tally from Flex Jet’s Martin Pepa, 3-1.  Consecutive goals from Hall and Roldan had Piaget up, 5-1, with Luis Escobar converting a penalty shot for Flex Jet to end the match with a Piaget win.

Flex Jet remained in the arena to face the Aspen Valley Polo Club in hopes of evening its record.

Aspen Valley scored first with Juancito Bollini putting the ball through the goal posts from the field, 1-0, but Flex Jet came to play.  Consecutive goals from Tommy Kato, Martin Pepa and Luis Escobar (penalty conversion) ended the period with Flex Jet in front, 3-1.

Scoring wasn’t as easy in second the second period with Kato converting a penalty shot for Flex Jet’s only goal of the chukker, 4-1.  Andres Gonzalez scored the final goal of the match for the 4-2 Flex Jet loss.

For the final two chukkers of the day, Piaget returned to the arena to face Aspen Valley and took prompt control of the match.  Nic Roldan scored first followed by a penalty goal from Jeff Hall, 2-0.  Juancito Bollini got Aspen Valley on the scoreboard with a score, but Roldan added his second and Marc Ganzi converted a penalty shot for a comfortable 4-1 lead after the first period.

Roldan opened the second period with a goal followed by two goals from Ganzi.  , 7-1.   Andrea Gonzalez scored twice from the field but another Ganzi goal ended the scoring with Piaget celebrating the 8-3 victory.

On Friday afternoon at 12:30pm the press will be entertained at the VIP tent at Rio Grande Park followed by a game between Aspen Valley and St. Regis in a consolation match for 5^th place.

On Saturday the tournament subsidiary for 3^rd place will be played at 12:30pm followed by the tournament final at 2:30pm.  A celebratory party will take place in the VIP tent following the final.