Tony Calle led the field in scoring with six goals as Travieso galloped past Tonkawa, 10-6 to earn a berth in Sunday’s Craig Sakin Memorial final. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
The opening match of the 2016 Craig Sakin Memorial got underway at 11am (MST) at the Aspen Valley Polo Club with Casablanca (Lauren Sherry, Grant Ganzi, Julio Novillo Astrada and Juancito Bollini) facing La Karina (Melissa Ganzi, Brian Boyd, Sebastian Merlos and Marc Ganzi) at the club’s Sopris Mt. Ranch Field.
Casablanca scored the first goal of the game on a 40-yard penalty conversion from Grant Ganzi, 1-0. Julio Novillo made it 2-0 on a shot from the field. La Karina was held scoreless and left the field down by two.
Grant Ganzi added a 30-yard penalty goal to the Casablanca total for a three goals lead, when the La Karina offense exploded. Sebastian Merlos scored twice with Marc Ganzi converting a penalty shot from 30-yards out and Melissa Ganzi accounting for another goal from the field. After two periods of play La Karina had managed to take the lead, 4-3.
Play took a defensive ton to it in the third. Lauren Sherry accounted for the only goal of the chukker as the two teams rode off the field in a 4-4 tie at the end of the first half.
Neither team was able to generate any effective offense in the fourth period. Both teams had opportunities to convert penalty shots but were unable to connect. The score remained deadlocked at four goals apiece after four chukkers.
Goals continued to be elusive into the fifth period. A missed penalty shot by La Karina and a goal from the field from Marc Ganzi were the sum total of the offense with both teams marking their men and playing disciplined defense. With once chukker left in regulation play, La Karina inched ahead, 5-4.
Both offenses were muted in the sixth chukker with hard checking and brilliant defensive efforts. A penalty shot was missed but Astrada managed his second goal of the game to tie the game at 5-5 and force a sudden-death overtime period.
Following a brief intermission, the teams returned to the field for the overtime chukker. A costly foul by Casablanca, however sealed their fat e with Marc Ganzi converting for the 6-5 victory.
Marc Ganzi led all scoring with three goals. Merlos scored twice and Melissa Ganzi added a goal for the win. Grant Ganzi and Astrada each scored twice for Casablanca. Sherry was also credited with a goal in the loss.
Travieso 10, Tonkawa 6
The defending champion Travieso (Segundo Merlos, Tony Calle, Lucas Lalor and Carlitos Gracida) beat up on an out-gunned Tonkawa (Jeff Hildebrand, Jimmy Seward, Justo Saavedra and Stewart Armstrong) in a 10-6 romp.
Opening chukker play was cautious with the teams feeling out one another. Carlitos Gracida scored first for Travieso but a goal from Tonkawa’s Jimmy Seward leveled the score at 1-1.
Home field advantage didn’t seem to help with Segundo Merlos making it 3-1 with his first goal of the day followed by three consecutive goals from the field from Tony Calle. Tonkawa was unable to crack the hard-nosed defense of the Travieso lineup and fell behind, 5-1.
The Tonkawa finally managed to slow down the Travieso attack, holding them to a single goal from Lucas Lalor. For the second straight chukker Tonkawa was unable to get on the scoreboard and trailed 6-1 at the end of the first half of the game.
Tony Calle extended the Travieso lead to six goals with the opening goal of the fourth as Tonkawa struggled to find an effective attack. Stewart Armstrong finally broke the scoring drought with a goal from the field but that was as far as it went. After four chukkers of play Travieso continued to dominate with a five goal, 7-2 advantage.
The Tonkawa offense stirred in the fifth following an opening exchange of goals between Seward and Calle, 8-3. Armstrong converted a 60-yard penalty shot and Justo Saavedra scored his first goal of the day. Travieso continued to lead but Tonkawa had trimmed their lead down to three goals, 8-5.
Sixth chukker goals from Merlos and Calle stretched the Travieso lead back to five goals, 10-5, as they dominated play in the final chukker. Saavedra scored the final goal of the game but it was Travieso who earned the right to defend their 2015 title in Sunday’s 1pm game against La Karina at the Aspen Valley Polo Club.
Calle led the field with six goals on the day. Merlos added two goals with Lalor and Gracida each scoring once for the win. A balanced attack from Tonkawa saw Seward, Saavedra and Armstrong each score twice in a losing effort.
The final will be preceded by a subsidiary game between Tonkawa and Casablanca.
The Aspen Valley Polo Club is located at 3275 County Road 100, Carbondale, CO. The public is welcome to watch polo in a relaxed atmosphere. Admission and parking are free. The club’s Polo Hotline is 970-710-1663.