FlexJet-winner of the 2015 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup. (L to R-Martin Estrada, Melissa Ganzi, Leo Mandelbaum and Juan Bollini)
The final of the 2015 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup between Travieso (Grant Ganzi, Tony Calle, J.J. Celis and Jesse Bray) and FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi, Leo Mandelbaum, Martin Estrada and Juan Bollini) got off to a slow start, with neither team being able to capitalize offensively. J.J. Celis scored the first goal of the game from the field with 2:03 left in the opening chukker to give Travieso a1-0 start. Juan Bollini responded with a goal for FlexJet to end the chukker with a minute on the clock, 1-1.
Grant Ganzi converted a 30-yard penalty shot in the opening minutes of the second period to move ahead, 2-1. FlexJet was unable to respond and fell behind, 2-1.
Travieso was awarded a goal on a Penalty 1 committed by FlexJet, 3-1 in the third. Celis added his second goal of the game, and Travieso took control of the game, 4-1. Leo Mandelbaum scored FlexJet’s only third chukker goal on a great individual effort but it was Travieso who left the field at the end of the first half with a 4-2 lead.
Goals were scarce in early fourth chukker action. Grant Ganzi scored on a difficult nearside neck shot for the only goal of the period. A frustrated FlexJet team found themselves trailing by three goals, 5-2, with two periods left in regulation play.
Mandelbaum got the ball rolling for FlexJet as he scored the opening goal of the fifth period in the first 30 seconds of play, 5-3. Back to back goals from Martin Estrada came within a minute of one another, tying the game at 5-5. J.J. Celis got the lead back for Travieso with his third goal of the day, but it was FlexJet team captain Melissa Ganzi who scored the tying goal in the final 11 seconds of the period to level the score at 6-6.
Tony Calle’s first goal of the game came in the first 17 seconds of the sixth chukker and put Travieso back in the lead, 7-6, but the momentum belonged to FlexJet. Mandelbaum scored the tying goal, 7-7, on a 40-yard penalty shot, two minutes into the final chukker. Both teams raced up and down the field in efforts to tally the winning goal, but alert defensive work on both sides stymied even the best efforts. It was the veteran Estrada who broke free and scored the final goal of the game for the exciting come-from-behind 0-7 win.
Estrada and Mandelbaum scored three goals apiece for FlexJet. Mandelbaum was named MVP while Estrada’s seven-year-old Chestnut mare, Pedacito, was named Best Playing Pony.
Audi triumphs in the consolation match
Earlier in the day Audi team captain Marc Ganzi scored eight goals in leading his team (Gene Goldstein, Carlucho Arellano, Marc Ganzi and Guille Aguero) to wins over Dutta Corp. (Timmy Dutta, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Tim Dutta) and Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Wes Finlayson, Brandon Phillips and Brad Blake) in a consolation round-robin match.
In the opening three chukkers of the day Audi scored the first seven goals of the game as they raced out to a commanding lead in the second chukker. Four goals by Ganzi, two from teammate Gene Goldstein and a goal from Carlucho Arellano supplied the fuel for the high-scoring Audi offense. Timmy Dutta finally got his team on the scoreboard with the final two goals of the second period. Audi left the field in control of the game with a five goal, 7-2 lead.
Nic Roldan scored on consecutive nearside backhanders in the third and final period of the mini-match, and Tim Dutta, Sr. closed out the scoring with a goal from the throw-in for the final score of the game, 7-5.
Postage Stamp Farm 5, Dutta Corp. 4
In the second three chukker mini-match of the morning Postage Stamp Farm took the early lead on a pair of goals from Wes Finlayson, 2-0. Dutta Corp. fought back with goals from Nic Roldan and Carlitos Gracida to tie it at 2-2. Finlayson third goal of the day had Postage Stamp Farm leaving the field with a narrow 3-2 edge.
Roldan tied the game at 3-3 with the opening goal of the third chukker just one minute into the final period. Finlayson countered with his fourth goal of the day as Postage Stamp Farm moved back into the lead, 4-3. Gracida tied it at 4-4 followed by the winning goal from Nic Roldan, 5-4.
Audi runs away with a 7-1 win
Audi sat out for three chukkers while Postage Stamp Farm snuck past Dutta corp., and looked to give Audi a run for their money.
In a defensive opening chukker, Carlucho Arellano accounted for the only scoring as Audi managed to take a delicate 1-0 lead. Postage Stamp Farm had their chances but couldn’t seem to capitalize on them and fell behind early.
The second period was all Audi. Four goals from Marc Ganzi (two on penalty conversions) and a goal from Gene Goldstein were answered by a single goal from Brad Blake. After two periods of play it was all Audi, 6-1.
Audi’s defense stepped it up in the final chukker, shutting out Postage Stamp Farm for the second time in the match. A single goal from Goldstein was the only scoring in the chukker and gave Audi the impressive 7-1 victory.
Marc Ganzi led the team with eight goals on the day. Gene Goldstein added four goals and Carlucho Arellano scored twice on the day.