Mariano “Nano” Gracida scored three goals in lifting Hawaii Polo Life to a hard-fought 7-6 win over La Karina in the final of the 2015 Rocky Mountain Open Championship Sunday afternoon.
Hawaii Polo Life (Melissa Ganzi, Chris Dawson, Mariano Gracida and Juan Bollini) held off a second half rally by FlexJet (Carlitos Gracida, Lucas Lalor, Riley Ganzi and Stewart Armstrong) to capture the 2015 Rocky Mountain Open in a 7-6 squeaker at the Aspen Valley Polo Club Sunday afte4rnoon.
Hawaii Polo Life scored the first two goals of the game with a goal from the field from Chris Dawson and a 40-yard penalty conversion from Mariano Gracida for a 2-0 edge. Carlitos Gracida countered with a 60-yard penalty goal for FlexJet to end the chukker trailing 2-1.
A scoreless second chukker followed the first with both sides concentrating on defense. Shots at goal either went wide or were blocked as both sides concentrated on defense.
Chris Dawson scored his second goal of the day for a 3-1 Hawaii Polo Life lead. A goal from Melissa Ganzi extended the lead to three goals, 4-1, as FlexJet continued to struggle with its offense. For the second straight period FlexJet was unable to get on the scoreboard and the first half ended with Hawaii Polo Life riding a 4-1 lead.
Lucas Lalor sparked the FlexJet attack in the second chukker, scoring consecutive goals that cut the lead to a single goal, 4-3. Chris Dawson answered back with his third goal of the game. The fourth chukker ended with Hawaii Polo Life on top by two goals, 5-3.
Mariano Gracida made it 6-3 with the opening goal of the fifth, but FlexJet fired right back. Goals from Lucas Lalor and Stewart Armstrong brought them to within a goal of the lead. With one chukker remaining in regulation play, FlexJet trailed, 6-5.
Stewart Armstrong tied the game at 6-6 with his second goal of the game as Hawaii Polo Life doubled their efforts to break through the FlexJet defenses. A final goal from Mariano Gracida broke the tie and gave the win to Hawaii Polo Life, 7-6.
Chris Dawson and Mariano Gracida scored three goals apiece. Melissa Ganzi added a goal in the win while Juan Bollini picked up MVP honors. Lucas Lalor’s three goals were tops for FlexJet. Stewart Armstrong added two goals and Carlitos Gracida scored once in a losing effort.
The Rocky Mountain Open win was the second in a row for Juan Bollini and Melissa Ganzi. Both had played on last year’s winning Longfield team.
La Karina 8, Los Amigos 7
La Karina (Brian Middleton, Brian Boyd, Jared Sheldon and Grant Ganzi) jumped out to a 6-3 halftime lead over an offensively struggling Los Amigos team (Paul Foster, Oscar Bermudez, Alejandro Gonzalez and Gabriel Gracida) but had to fend off a late rally to preserve the 8-7 win in the Rocky Mountain Open subsidiary match later in the day.
La Karina’s Jared Sheldon scored the first goal of the day but Oscar Bermudez tied the game with a goal for Los Amigos to end the opening chukker. Sheldon added another goal in the second followed by a goal from teammate Brian Boyd for a 3-2 advantage. Alejandro Gonzalez scored the only goal for Los Amigos in the period as they continued to trail, 3-2.
Boyd added two more goals in the third and Sheldon notched his third of the game. Bermudez scored a goal for Los Amigos but La Karina had stretched their lead to three goals, 6-3, to end the first half.
Defense was the tone for the fourth chukker as both teams struggled to mount a successful attack. Sheldon scored for the fourth time for the only goal of the chukker. La Karina left the field with a 7-3, four goal lead.
A pair of goals from Gabriel Gracida sparked the Los Amigos attack in the fifth period and cutting the La Karina lead back to a manageable two goals, 7-5. Boyd’s fourth goal of the day ended the chukker with La Karina on top, 8-5.
La Karina played defense in the sixth and nearly lost the game doing so. Bermudez scored consecutive goals to bring Los Amigos to within a goal of the lead, 7-6, but that was where it ended. Time ran out on Los Amigos as La Karina left the field with the 8-7 win.
Boyd and Sheldon scored four goals apiece for the victory. Bermudez led the Los Amigos attack with four goals. Gabriel Gracida scored twice and Gonzalez added a goal in the loss.
The Rocky Mountain Open wraps up the 2015 summer polo tournament season at the Aspen Valley Polo club, but look for their return in December for the 2015 Aspen World Snow Polo Championship.