USPA Fall Plates action with (L to R) Carlucho Arellano, Jesse Bray and Wes Finlayson. Photo by (Alex Pacheco))
Dutta Corp. (Timmy Dutta, Wes Finlayson, Jesse Bray and Carlitos Gracida) received one goal by handicap from Travieso (Tim Dutta, Tony Calle, Guille Aguero and Carlucho Arellano) in the opening match of the 2015 USPA Fall Plates Friday afternoon at the Grand Champions Polo Club, but didn’t seem to need it as they rode on to an 11-6 victory and a berth in Sunday’s noon final.
Carlucho Arellano tied the game at 1-1 on a 40-yard penalty shot, but the winds were with Dutta Corp. A Travieso foul in their own goal mouth resulted in a Penalty 1 and awarded Dutta Corp. a goal to end the chukker trailing 2-1.
Consecutive goals from Jesse Bray, Timmy Dutta and Carlitos Gracida went unanswered and the balanced Dutta Corp. attack moved in front by four goals, 5-1 after the second chukker.
A pair of goals from Wes Finlayson was countered by a single goal from Arellano in third period play. At the end of the first half it was all Dutta Corp., 7-2.
Arellano scored his third goal of the game in the fourth period, but the Travieso offense wasn’t clicking. Finlayson added this third goal of the game and Dutta Corp. continued to hold a five goal lead 8-3.
Fifth chukker goals Gracida and Bray extended the Dutta Corp. lead to seven goals, 10-3, as Travieso struggled to get on the scoreboard. Arellano converted another 40-yard penalty shot for a goal, but with one chukker left to play Travieso needed six goals to tie the game, 10-4.
Timmy Dutta’s second goal of the day pushed the Dutta Corp. lead back to seven goals, 11-4, when the Travieso attack stirred. Single goals from Tony Calle and Arellano ended the chukker with Dutta Corp. riding off with the 11-6 win and a spot in Sunday’s final.
Arellano led all scoring with five goals for Travieso (two on penalty conversions). Calle added one goal in the loss. Finlayson’s three goals led a balanced Dutta Corp. attack. Timmy Dutta, Bray and Gracida each scored twice; the team received on goal on a Penalty 1 and started with one goal by handicap.
High Ground wins twice, advances to tournament final
Barbarossa Leather (Santos Bollini, Leo Mandelbaum, Juan Bollini and Julio Ezcurra) opened the three team round-robin competition with a 5-3 win over Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Bob Puetz, Brandon Phillips and Martin Estrada), but it was High Ground Polo (Darren Taplin, Joe Meyer, Nic Roldan and J.J. Celis) with consecutive wins over Postage Stamp Farm (6-5) and Barbarossa (4-3) that earned an invitation to the final of the 2015 USPA Fall Plates at noon on Sunday.
Barbarossa Leather got first chukker goals from Julio Ezcurra and Leo Mandelbaum in the three chukker mini-match while shutting down the Postage Stamp Farm attack. After the first period of play it was Barbarossa Leather, 2-0.
Brandon Phillips finally got Postage Stamp Farm on the scoreboard with a breakaway goal in the opening minute of the second period, 2-1. Mandelbaum’s second goal of the game had Barbarossa Leather on top by two goals, 3-1. Phillips converted a 30-yard penalty shot with 1:29 left in the chukker, cutting the Barbarossa Leather lead to a single goal, 3-2. Santos Bollini scored the final goal of the period as he knocked the ball out of the air and through the Postage Stamp Farm goalposts with 36 seconds on the clock.
Goals were scarce in the final chukker, with Julio Ezcurra padding the Barbarossa Lead with his first goal of the game to make it 5-2 nearly five minutes into the final chukker. Postage Stamp Farm struggled to get back into the game but managed only a single penalty goal from Phillips from 60-yards out in the 5-3 Barbarossa win.
Mandelbaum and Ezcurra scored two goals apiece for Barbarossa Leather. Santos Bollini added a goal for the win. Phillips scored all three of the Postage Stamp Farm goals (two on penalty shots).
High Ground 6, Postage Stamp Farm 5
Following their opening loss, Postage Stamp Farm remained on the field to face High Ground Polo for the second three chukker segment of the round-robin.
Postage Stamp Farm received one goal by handicap but fell behind 2-1 after goals from Nic Roldan and J.J. Celis. Bob Puetz tied the game at 2-2 with his first goal of the day, but Roldan took the lead back for High Ground to end the opening chukker with Postage Stamp Farm on top, 3-2.
Brandon Phillips tied the game at 3-3 in the opening minute of the second period. Roldan and Puetz traded goals that had the score all even at 4-4 at the 4:50 mark. Celis broke the tie with his second score of the day, 5-4, and Roldan hammered a 60-yardpenalty shot through the Postage Stamp Farm goalposts for the two goal, 6-4 lead.
High Ground was content to play defense in the final chukker while Postage Stamp Farm continued to battle a solid High Ground defense. A hard hit shot at goal hit Puetz in the arm and forced him to leave the field with three minutes left in the game. Juan Olivera replaced Puetz and the match continued. Martin Estrada finally broke through the High Ground defenders with two seconds left to be played as High Ground won their first game, 6-5.
Roldan led the High Ground attack with four goals (one on a penalty conversion). Celis added two more goals for the win. Puetz was high-scorer for Postage Stamp Farm with two goals. Estrada and Phillips each scored once and the ream received one goal by handicap.
High Ground 4, Barbarossa Leather 3
The final three chukkers of the round-robin pitted Barbarossa Leather (1-0) against High Ground (1-0) with the winner moving on to the tournament final.
Barbarossa Leather received one goal by handicap and added to it at the 3:20 mark of the opening chukker with a goal from Juan Bollini for a 2-0 start. J.J. Celis got High Ground in the scoring column with a goal from the field with 2:29 left in the period, and a goal from Nic Roldan on a 30-yard penalty conversion tied it at 2-2 to close out the chukker.
Both defenses stepped it up in the second period. Defensive efforts outweighed offensive thrusts and with just 41 seconds on the clock, Roldan scored to give High Ground the lead, 3-2.
In a one goal game and the final chukker underway, both teams were vigilant on defensive and aggressive on offense, but the goals didn’t seem to be there. Finally Celis gave High Ground a little breathing room with his second goal of the match for a 4-2 High Ground edge. Barbarossa Leather continued to press the attack, but the High Ground defense held. Santos Bollini scored the final goal of the game with less than a minute to play and it was High Ground riding off the field with the 4-3 victory and a date in Sunday’s noon final against Dutta Corp.
Roldan and Celis each scored twice in the low-scoring affair. Juan Bollini and his son, Santos Bollini, accounted for Barbarossa Leather’s only goals from the field (Juan Bollini converted a Safety for his score) and the team received one goal by handicap.
The Grand Champions Polo Club is located at 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 33414. The matches are free of charge and the public is invited to attend. The Grand Champions Polo Hotline is 561-373-0073.