Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Carlos Gracida) took the first step in its effort to sweep this fall’s 20-goal tournaments by downing Grand Champions (Wes Finlayson, Jason Crowder, Tommy Biddle and Joey Casey) 11-8 in the first round of play in the 2012 USPA National Twenty-Goal tournament.
Audi captured the USPA North America cup with a 6-5 win over Piaget on Sunday, and flexed its offensive muscles in Monday’s game with Grand Champions.
Carlitos Gracida opened the scoring with consecutive goals in the first chukker for a 2-0 lead. Tommy Biddle converted a penalty shot to end the period, trailing Audi by a single goal, 2-1.
Jason Crowder tied it up in the second, and Biddle added two more penalty goals. Marc Ganzi converted a penalty shot for a goal for Audi, but after two chukkers Grand champions held a 4-3 edge.
Biddle added another penalty goal in the third, but Nic Roldan’s mallet was red hot. The talented 8-goaler scored four goals from the field, giving Audi a 7-5 halftime advantage.
Roldan and Carlitos Gracida added single goals in the fourth while the Audi defense kept Grand Champions off of the scoreboard. The Audi lead had stretched to four goals at the end of the fourth chukker, 9-5.
Carlitos Gracida dazzled the spectators with some fancy stickwork in the fifth, scoring his fourth goal of the game. Crowder answered with a goal for Grand Champions, but Audi held the four goal lead, 10-6.
Another penalty goal for Biddle and a goal from the field from Wes Finlayson had Grand Champions trailing by two goals, 10-8. A missed penalty shot by Grand Champions and a change in the direction of play allowed Roldan to score for the sixth time to give the win to Audi in an 11-8 game.
Roldan led all scoring with six goals. Carlitos Gracida added four goals and Marc Ganzi scored once for the win.
Biddle converted five penalty shots for goals for Grand Champions. Crowder registered two goals and Finlayson scored once in the loss.
USPA National Twenty-Goal play is scheduled to continue on Wednesday with an 11AM game between Piaget (0-0) and Daniel Henry (0-1); followed by a 3PM contest featuring La Karina (0-0) and Grand Champions (0-1).