L to R-Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and MVP Carlos Gracida.(Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Audi (Marc Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Nic Roldan and Carlos Gracida) received one goal by handicap and quickly added to it with Nic Roldan converting a 40-yard penalty shot and Carlitos Gracida scoring from the field for a 3-0 start in the final of the 2013 USPA National Twenty Goal tournament at the Grand Champions Polo Club. ELG (Avery Chapman, Guille Aguero, Kris Kampsen and Tommy Biddle) responded with a pair of goals from Guille Aguero, but trailed 3-2 at the end of the first chukker.
Audi got its attack on line in the second, scoring four times while shutting down the ELG offense. Single goals from Marc Ganzi (a 40-yard penalty conversion) and Roldan (a goal from the field) and a pair of goals from polo Hall of Famer, Carlos Gracida, ended the period with Audi on top, 7-2.
Both defenses buckled down in the third. A single goal from Tommy Biddle was the only goal scored, and at the end of the first half Audi held a comfortable four goal, 7-3 lead.
ELG rallied in the fourth chukker following the award of a goal on a rarely called Penalty 1, 7-4. A 60-yard penalty conversion from Biddle cut the Audi lead to two, 7-5. Roldan closed out the chukker with a goal from the field with 15 seconds left on the clock, 8-5.
A fifth chukker Audi blitzkrieg extended their lead to five goals, 11-6, as they picked up two goals from Roldan and a single goal from the field from Ganzi. ELG’s sole goal came from Aguero who took a Biddle pass and raced 150 yards down the field for the score.
Biddle converted a penalty shot for a goal for the first goal of the sixth chukker, 11-7, but that was where it ended. Ganzi scored his third goal of the day followed by a goal from Carlitos Gracida for the 13-7 final.
Roldan’s five goals led a balanced Audi attack that saw Ganzi add three goals and two goals apiece from the father-son combination of Carlos and Carlitos Gracida. Biddle’s four goals (two on penalty conversions) set the pace for ELG. Aguero scored twice and the team was awarded a goal on a Penalty 1.
Carlos Gracida received MVP honors while Zulu, a seven-year-old Dark Bay mare was named Best Playing Pony. It was Zulu’s second such honor this season. The mare was named BPP earlier this season in the USPA Fall Plates. Zulu is owned by Halo Polo and was played by Aguero.