Friday afternoon wins by Audi (Santos Bollini, Marc Ganzi, Luis Escobar and Juan Bollini) and Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Guille Aguero and Leo Mandelbaum) set the finals of the 2015 Tackeria Invitational to open the fall tournament season at the Grand Champions Polo Club.
In the opening match of the day Audi ran up a 9-3 halftime lead over Dutta Corp. (Timmy Dutta, Tim Dutta, Carlitos Gracida and Nic Roldan) before coasting to a 13-9 win.
Fourteen-year-old Timmy Dutta scored the first goal of the game for Dutta Corp. followed b goals from Santos Bollini and Juan Olivera that had Audi in the lead, 2-1. Both teams continued to press their attacks, but it was Timmy Dutta who broke loose with time running out in the chukker to score the tying goals, 2-2, with one second on the clock.
Audi charged onto the field in second period play and scored four consecutive goals. Olivera broke the tie with a goal from the field and then found himself on the scoring end of a pass from Santos Bollini for a 4-2 Audi advantage. Luis Escobar made his presence known with his first goal of the game at the 2:20 mark and Santos Bollini scored on a pass from his father, Juan Bollini. A stellar Audi defense kept Dutta Corp. from scoring as they fell behind, 6-2
Olivera made it 7-2 with a goal in the opening minute of the third chukker. Juan Bollini scored just over a minute later, stretching the Audi lead to six goals, 8-2, and a goal from Santos Bollini on another pass from his father had Audi in front by seven goals, 9-2. Timmy Dutta scored the final goal of the first half for Dutta Corp., leaving the field trailing by six goals, 9-3.
Nic Roldan scored his first goal as the second half got underway, 9-4. Juan Bollini scored on a pass from Santos Bollini with 6:14 left in the chukker, 10-4. Olivera and Timmy Dutta traded goals with Santos Bollini scoring the final goal of the period. After four chukkers of action, Audi continued to lead, 12-5.
Dutta Corp. rallied with a pair of goals in the fifth while holding Audi scoreless for the first time all day. Dutta Corp. had cut the Audi lead back to five goals with one chukker of regulation time remaining to be played.
Timmy Dutta’s sixth goal of the day came in the opening 45 seconds of the sixth chukker and cut the Audi lead to four goals, 12-8. Teammate Carlitos Gracida brought them to within three goals of the lead, 12-9, but that would be as close as they would come. Juan Bollini scored the final goal of the game to give the win to Audi, 13-9.
Olivera scored a team high five goals for Audi. Santos Bollini added four goals; Juan Bollini added three goals and Escobar scored once in the victory. Timmy Dutta’s six goals led all scoring. Teammates Nic Roldan, Carlitos Gracida and Tim Dutta each added a goal in the loss.
Postage Stamp Farm 12, Casablanca 8
Postage Stamp Farm dashed Casablanca’s (Grant Ganzi, Wes Finlayson, J.J. Celis and Julio Ezcurra) hopes of defending their 2014 Tackeria Invitational title, falling 12-8 in the second match of the day.
Postage Stamp Farm was awarded a goal on a Penalty 1 for the first score of the day, 1-0. Grant Ganzi tied it with the only other goal of the period for a 1-1 stalemate.
Casablanca came up with second chukker goals from Ganzi and Wes Finlayson, but Postage Stamp Farm was equal to the challenge. Second period goals from Guille Aguero, Brandon Phillips (30-yard penalty conversion) and Leo Mandelbaum gave the edge to Postage Stamp Farm, 4-3, as the chukker ended.
Annabelle Gundlach woke everyone up with a brilliant nearside neck shot for a goal on a pass from Phillips at 4:17 to give Postage Stamp Farm a two goal lead, 5-3. A Penalty 1 resulted in Casablanca being awarded a goal on the foul, 5-4. Julio Ezcurra scored for Casablanca on a nearside backhander, 5-5, with Phillips converting a 60-yard penalty shot for a 6-5 halftime lead for Postage Stamp Farm.
Mandelbaum re-directed a penalty shot by Phillips to stretch the Postage Stamp Farm lead to two goals, 7-5. Finlayson scored on his second powerful shot of the day with 4:34 remaining in the period, 7-6. Ganzi tied it at 7-7 on a 40-yard penalty shot. Postage Stamp Farm were the beneficiaries of a Penalty 1, as they took the lead back, 8-7. Phillips scored the final goal of the period, building on the lead, 9-7, with two periods left to be played.
Both defenses tightened in the fifth. Phillips took advantage of a Casablanca foul to score on a 30-yard penalty shot, 10-7. Ezcurra got Casablanca on the scoreboard with under a minute on the clock, but Postage Stamp Farm continued to hold the advantage, 10-8.
The Casablanca team was out of gas in the final chukker with Mandelbaum scoring his third goal of the day at the 3:17 mark of the final chukker. Phillips made it an even dozen with 47 seconds on the clock for the 12-8 Postage Stamp Farm win. The victory will pit Postage Stamp Farm against Audi in Sunday’s noon final. Casablanca and Dutta Corp. will play the consolation match earlier in the day in a 10am contest.
The Grand Champions Polo Club is located at 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 33414. The matches are free of charge and the public is invited to attend.