Audi 8-goaler Nic Roldan with the ball with Airstream’s Kris Kampsen (left) in pursuit in East Coast Open play at the Greenwich Polo Club on Sunday.
Audi (Marc Ganzi, Nic Roldan, Sebastian Merlos and Leo Mandelbaum) looked like the defending East Coast Open champions in the opening minutes of the first chukker against Airstream (Agustin Bottaro, Guille Aguero, Matias Magrini and Kris Kampsen), as they took the early lead, 3-1, but Airstream got in synch in the ensuing chukkers forcing Audi to break a sixth period tie to secure the 11-10 win.
Audi scored first on a 30-yard penalty shot from Nic Roldan, ,1-0, with Airstream responding with a goal from the field from Kris Kampsen, 1-1. Goals from Marc Ganzi and Sebastian Merlos closed out a scrappy first chukker with Audi riding atop a 3-1 lead.
Roldan extended the Audi lead to three goals with his second goal of the game in the second chukker, 4-1, but the Airstream offense stirred. A goal from the field from Matias Magrini was followed by a 60-yard penalty conversion from Kampsen. After two periods of play, Audi continued to lead, 4-3.
Missed scoring opportunities by both sides characterized the third period with Aguero and Merlos trading goals, 5-4. With 1:28 left in the chukker, Kampsen was issued a yellow card by the officials, his second of the game, and was sent off the field for two minutes. Audi was unable to capitalize on the four-on-three mismatch, however, but left the field at the end of the first half with a 5-4 advantage.
Roldan opened the scoring in the second half with a 30-yard penalty conversion followed up by a goal from the field as he followed up teammate Leo Mandelbaum and tapped the ball through the goalposts to make it 7-4. Kampsen converted a 60-yard penalty shot with goals from Agustin Bottaro and Aguero tying the score at 7-7. Aguero’s second goal of the chukker and third of the game gave Airstream their first lead of the game, 8-7, but Audi fought back. Sebastian Merlos converted a 30-yard penalty shot for a goal and an 8-8 deadlock at the end of the fifth.
Merlos was on fire as Audi entered the sixth chukker, converting a penalty shot for a goal and adding another from the field, 10-8. Kampsen scored on a pass from Matias Magrini to cut the Audi lead back to two, 10-9, but the momentum remained with Audi. Another goal from Merlos shut the door on any hope of an Airstream rally, and in spite of Aguero’s goal in the final seconds of play, a strong finish by Audi secured the hard-fought win, 11-10.
Merlos led all scoring with six goals. Roldan added four goals and Ganzi scored once for the win. Aguero and Kampsen scored four goals apiece for Airstream, with Bottaro and Magrini each scoring once in the loss.
Postage Stamp Farm 12, Tupungato 7
Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Salvador Ulloa, Brandon Phillips and Joao Paulo Ganon) made a strong debut in the 2016 East Coast Open as they pummeled an impotent Tupungato lineup (Luis Rinaldini, Santi Torres, Naco Taverna and Gaston Lisioli) 12-7 in the final game of the opening round of the tournament.
Postage Stamp Farm scored the first three goals of the match, with Sala Ulloa (older brother of White Birch 9-goaler Hilario Ulloa) scoring twice and Brazilian 7-goaler Joao Paulo Ganon adding a goal. Naco Taverna kept Tupungato from getting shutout with the final goal of the chukker to make it 3-1.
Single goals from Ulloa and Ganon in the second stretched the Postage Stamp Farm lead to four goals, 5-1. Taverna stepped up once again, scoring Tupungato’s only goal of the chukker, 5-2.
Postage Stamp Farm went all out in the third, scoring the first five goals of the chukker and extending their lead to eight goals, 8-2. Ulloa and Ganon scored two goals each (both of Ganon’s were on 40-yard penalty conversions) and Brandon Philips added a goal. Taverna managed a single goal for Tupungato, who trailed 10-3 at the end of the first half.
Ganon opened the scoring in the second half to a much-improved Tupungato defense that managed to stem the offensive advances. Gaston Lisioli scored on a 40-yard penalty shot but Tupungato trailed by seven goals with just two periods left in regulation play.
The Tupungato defense continued to hold into the fifth, shutting down the Postage Stamp Farm attack for the first time all day, but they got little help on the offensive end of the game. Taverna scored the only goal of the chukker that allowed Postage Stamp Farm to ride in to the sixth period with a six goal lead, 11-5.
Phillips scored his second goal of the day on a pass from Ulloa to give Postage Stamp Farm a seven goal advantage, 12-5. Taverna scored the final two goals of the game with Postage Stamp Farm celebrating a convincing 12-7 victory.
East Coast Open play resumes on Tuesday in an exciting 4pm game between White Birch (Santino Magrini, Hilario Ulloa, Mariano Aguerre and Peter Brant) and Goose Creek (Maureen Brennan, Marcos Garcia del Rio, Tomas Garcia del Rio and Mariano Gonzalez). Both White Birch and Goose Creek earned wins in their opening games and enter the match with identical 1-0 records. Goose Creek will be looking to make up for their loss to White Birch in the final of the 2016 Monty Waterbury Cup while White Birch will be hoping to end the season with a sweep of all three 20-goal tournaments (Monty Waterbury Cup, Butler Handicap and the East Coast Open).