CT Energia and Palm Beach Polo in the final three chukkers of Friday afternoon’s round-robin. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
In a three-way tie, CT Energia (Marc Ganzi, Alessandro Bazzoni, Felipe Viana and Kris Kampsen) scored a 4-2 win over Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, Alejandro Gonzalez, Piki Alberdi and Juancito Bollini) in the final three chukkers of Friday afternoon’s USPA Fall Plates round-robin at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Palm Beach Polo opened the day with a 3-2 win over Palm Beach Equine (Leo Mandelbaum, Carlitos Gracida, Guille Aguero and Scott Swerdlin) in the first three chukkers of the competition. Palm Beach Equine took the early 2-1 lead on first chukker goals from Carlitos Gracida and Guille Aguero. Alejandro Gonzalez responded with a goal from the field for Palm Beach Polo.
Palm Beach Polo’s defense held Palm Beach Equine scoreless for the remaining two chukkers while picking up single goals in both the second and third periods on penalty conversions from Piki Alberdi for the 3-2 win.
Palm Beach Equine 3, CT Energia 2
Palm Beach Equine remained on the field for the next three chukkers with CT Energia riding out to meet them.
CT Energia’s Kris Kampsen scored the first goal of the game in the opening minute of play and added a penalty goal. Palm Beach Equine was held scoreless and trailed 2-0 after the first seven minutes of play.
Both defenses stiffened in the second period as neither team was able to mount a successful attack. The second period ended with CT Energia holding the lead, 2-0.
Carlitos Gracida finally got Palm Beach Equine on the scoreboard in the third chukker on an impressive end-to-end run with the ball for a goal, 2-1. Leo Mandelbaum tried it up with a penalty goal and added another goal from the field minutes later. CT Energia was unable to respond and fell, 3-2.
CT Energia 4, Palm Beach Polo 2
Both Palm Beach Polo and Palm Beach Equine had recorded wins in the day’s round-robin play, and CT Energia would need a convincing win if they had any hopes for a berth in Sunday’s final.
Alejandro Gonzalez scored the first goal of the final three chukker mini-match, 1-0. Kris Kampsen answered back with a goal for CT Energia to end the period all even at 1-1.
Goals were hard to come by in the second period of the final mini-match of the day. With four minutes left in the chukker Kampsen finally managed to break through the Palm Beach Polo defense for the go-ahead score, 2-1. CT Energia rode off the field with a fragile 2-1 advantage with seven minutes left in regulation play.
Kampsen added two more goals to the CT Energia total with a goal from the field and a penalty conversion. Palm Beach Polo missed several clear scoring opportunities, settling for a final goal from Alberdi on a penalty shot. The final horn sounded with CT Energia celebrating the 4-2 win and a position in Sunday’s final against Aspen Valley Polo (Gene Goldstein, Wes Finlayson, Brandon Phillips and Roberto Gonzalez).
Sunday’s play will begin with a consolation match at noon followed by a 1:30PM subsidiary final. The final of the 2014 USPA Fall Plates will feature CT Energia and Aspen Valley Polo Club.
The Grand Champions Polo Club is located on the corner of Lake Worth Avenue and South Shore Boulevard in Wellington, Florida, and everyone is welcome to watch the games.