Piki Alberdi scored five goals in the 12-8 Piaget win in the USPA National 20-goal competition Friday afternoon.
(Photo by Scott Fisher)
Competition continued in the 2013 USPA National 20-goal tournament at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington Florida, with Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Carlos Gracida) defeating Palm Beach Equine (Carlucho Arellano, Julio Ezcurra, Luis Escobar and Scott Swerdlin), 10-6 while Piaget (Melissa Ganzi, Jeff Hall, Piki Alberdi and Juan Bollini) evened their record at 1-1 by beating KIG (Juancito Bollini/Bash Kazi, Jeff Blake, Brandon Phillips and Michel Dorignac) 12-8.
Palm Beach Equine received two goals by handicap from the 18-goal Audi lineup and quickly built up a 4-1 first chukker lead. Carlucho Arellano scored the opening goal for Palm Beach Equine, 3-0. Nic Roldan responded with a goal for Audi. Luis Escobar closed out the opening chukker with a 60-yard penalty conversion for the early 4-1 advantage.
Charges up and down the field resulted in only two scores in the second chukker. Roldan and Julio Ezcurra exchanged goals with Palm Beach Equine maintaining a three goal lead, 5-2.
Goals were at a premium in the third, with the only goal coming in the last 30 seconds of play. Roldan’s third goal of the afternoon brought Audi closer, but Palm Beach Equine rode off the field at the end of the first half with a 5-3 edge.
Escobar scored his second goal of the day midway through the fourth period, 6-3. Audi answered back with a goal from the field from Carlitos Gracida and a penalty conversion from Marc Ganzi. With two chukkers left in regulation time, Audi had cut the Palm Beach Equine lead to a single goal, 6-5.
Audi controlled the fifth chukker as a resolute defensive effort shut out any notion of a Palm Beach Equine rally. Two goals from Carlos Gracida and a goal from Roldan ended the fifth with Audi on top of an 8-6 lead.
Roldan and Carlos Gracida added single goals in the sixth chukker while an impotent Palm Beach Equine attack collapsed. Audi rode off the field with a comfortable 10-6 victory.
Roldan registered five goals for Audi. Carlos Gracida scored three goals and Marc Ganzi (penalty goals) and Carlitos Gracida each accounted for a goal in the win. Palm Beach Equine received two goals by handicap and got two more from Escobar (one on a penalty conversion). Ezcurra and Arellano added single goals in a losing effort.
PIAGET 12, KIG 8
Later in the day, Piaget scored a convincing 12-8 win over KIG as competition in the USPA National 20-goal tournament continued.
KIG received one goal by handicap from the 20-goal Piaget entry but was blanked in opening chukker action as Piaget produced single goals from Melissa Ganzi and Piki Alberdi for a 2-1 lead.
Alberdi took control of the ball in the opening seconds of the second chukker and drove it through the KIG goalposts, 3-1. Michel Dorignac responded for KIG by converting a 60-yard penalty shot, 3-2, for the only other goal in the period.
Piaget’s Jeff Hall drove a well-executed backhander through the goalposts to open the third, 4-2. With three minutes left in the chukker Dorignac cut the Audi lead back to a single goal, 4-3, on a shot from the field. Hall scored the final goal of the period in the final 11 seconds on a powerful neck-shot to put Piaget in front, 5-3.
Juancito Bollini was replaced by Bash Kazi in the fourth chukker, injecting an immediate sense of energy to the KIG lineup. Brandon Phillips scored a goal from the field, 5-4, and Dorignac converted a 40-yard penalty shot to tie it up at 5-5 as Piaget was unable to score.
The lead changed hands twice in the fifth, but ended in a 7-7 deadlock. Phillips scored the first goal of the chukker, giving KIG its first lead of the game, 6-5. A goal from Juan Bollini tied it again at 6-6, and Hall’s third goal of the game gave the lead back to Piaget, 7-6. Phillips knotted it up again at 7-7 in the final minute of the period.
Phillips put KIG on top, once again, with his fourth goal of the afternoon, 8-7, but that was when the momentum shifted. In just over two minutes of play, 8-goaler Alberdi scored three times as Piaget moved ahead, 10-8. Hall scored the last two goals of the match, converting a 40-yard penalty shot and adding a goal from the field as he took control of the throw-in and raced 150 yards down the field for the final goal in the 12-8 Piaget win.
Alberdi and Hall scored five goals apiece for Piaget. Ganzi and Bollini added single goals. Phillips led the KIG attack with four goals. Dorignac scored two of his three goals on penalty shots and the team received one goal by handicap.
Tournament play continues on Sunday, November 17 with a 10AM contest between KIG (0-1) and ELG (1-0). Palm Beach Equine (0-1) and Casablanca (0-0) will face one another at 3PM.