By Alex Webbe
A balanced offense won the day for Audi (1-1) as it knocked of previously undefeated GTP 8-4 to secure a spot in Wednesday’s finals of the 2008 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Stingy defense and low scoring set the tone for the early half of the game as both teams struggled to get a productive offense going.
Young Tommy Collingwood scored the first two goals of the game to give GTP an early 2-0 lead, but goals from Melissa Ganzi and Steve Dalton knotted it at 2-2 at the half.
The two teams traded goals in the fourth period with Audi’s Stevie Orthwein converting a penalty shot and GTP’s J. J. Celis scoring from the field.
The fifth chukker, however, belonged to Audi. Consecutive goals from Melissa Ganzi, Stevie Orthwein and Juan Bollini went unanswered, and Audi left the field after the first five chukkers with a 6-3 lead.
A couple of sixth chukker goals from Bollini iced the game in spite of a late goal from GTP’s Marc Ganzi, and Audi rebounded from a first round loss to earn a berth in Wednesday’s finals.
Bollini led all scoring with three goals. Teammate’s Melissa Ganzi added two goals apiece and Steve Dalton added a goal for the win.
Tommy Collingwood led GTP with two goals. Marc Ganzi and J. J. Celis added single goals in a losing effort.
ISLA CARROLL 7, NEWPORT 6
For the second time in two days, Isla Carroll was taken into an overtime chukker. Today, however, it managed to eke out a 7-6 win over Newport in making its way into Wednesday’s Cup finals against Audi.
Newport’s Justo Saavedra scored the only goal of the first chukker as players on both sides failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities/Gene Goldstein and Saavedra added single goals in the second chukker for Newport before 7-goaler Hector Galindo finally got Isla Carroll on the scoreboard to trail 3-1.
The Isla Carroll attack came alive in the third chukker with Brandon Phillips scoring from the field while Leo Mandelbaum and John Goodman each contributed penalty conversions to give themselves a 4-3 halftime lead.
Mauricio Devrient and Gene Goldstein added single goals in the fourth frame while limiting Isla Carroll to a single goal from Phillips, and the score was all even at 5-5 as the chukker ended.
Goldstein scored his third goal of the game in the fifth chukker for a brief 6-5 lead, but Phillips scored his third goal of the game to even it at 6-6.
A scoreless sixth chukker was followed by a ten-minute intermission as both teams returned to the field for the sudden-death overtime period. One minute and forty-seven seconds into the game Phillips stroked the ball through the south goalposts and Isla Carroll took the win, 7-6.
“We had our chances,” said 4-goaler Cali Garcia, the fireplug of the Newport attack on Saturday. “Our teamwork was fine, we just didn’t finish on a number of scoring opportunities.”
Brandon Phillips led Isla Carroll with four goals from the field. Teammates John Goodman, Hector Galindo and Leo Mandelbaum each added a goal for the win.
Gene Goldstein set the pace for Newport with three goals. Justo Saavedra scored twice and Mauricio Devrient added a single goal.
The finals of the 2998 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup are scheduled to be played on Wednesday, October 29 at noon at Grand Champions Polo Club. The consolation match has been slated for a 10 am starting time.