After bracket play was completed Friday afternoon in the Lisle Nixon 12 goal at Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, Antelope and La Karina/ Mansour qualified for the finals of the Lisle Nixon with their wins over Long Beach and Gehache, respectively.
The first game between Antelope and Long Beach was fast and furious. Long Beach came out firing in the first chukker, going ahead 4-2, but an injury to Justin Klentner in the 2nd chukker slowed their momentum, and by halftime Antelope had regained a one goal lead. The lead see-sawed back and forth in the second half, and a goal by Long Beach’s Wiley Uretz sent the game to OT. The OT period was short and sweet for Antelope as Santi Trotz controlled the ball out of the lineup for Antelope, went to the boards, and sank a beautiful neck shot for the 11-10 win. Antelope captain Geoff Palmer was high scorer for his team with 4 goals.
In the second game, Gehache faced La Karina/ Mansour. Gehache received three goals on handicap and held that lead for a two chukkers, helped by goals from Mariano Uranga and Glencito Holden, but by halftime La Karina/Mansour had caught up and eased ahead by two goals. The second half saw both teams trading goals, but La Karina/ Mansour held on to their halftime lead to win 11-9 and advance to the finals. Ben Soleimani and Santiago von Wernich each had four goals for La Karina/ Mansour.
On Sunday May 23rd Long Beach and Gehache will play the consolation game at 1pm and La Karina/ Mansour will face Antelope in the finals at 3pm.