By Alex Webbe
Barrossa (Jesse Bray, Santiago Trotz, Erik Wright and Jef Graham) opened the weekend’s competition of the 8-10-goal Champions Cup at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California by scoring an 11-10 win over Empire (Eric Hammon, Craig Steinke, Ashton Wolf and Mariano Fassetta) in a second half rally.
The game got off to a slow start, with Bray scoring the opening goal of the day, countered by a goal from the field from Empire’s Hammon. The first chukker ended in a 1-1 tie.
Both teams continued to struggle with their offenses again in the second period with Barrossa coming up with another goal from Bray and Wolf countering with a goal from the field. Empire missed two penalty shots in the chukker with Barrossa allowing a 60-yard penalty shot of their own to go wide. At the end of the second period of play the game was deadlocked at 2-2.
Fassetta scored for Empire on a 40-yard penalty shot and a pair of goals from the field while teammate Wolf added another goal from the field. Barrossa wasn’t exactly silent. Continuing to press the attack, Barrossa was the recipient of a pair fouls resulting in two penalty shooting opportunities which were converted by Bray. At the end of the first half, Empire held a 6-4 advantage.
Two penalty goals in the fourth chukker from Trotz tied it up at 6-6 before Empire stormed back. Wolf and Fassetta each scored a single goal for an 8-6 lead after four periods.
Barrossa turned it around in the fifth, outscoring Empire four to one while taking a 10-9 lead. Bray scored one goal on a penalty shot and added two from the field. Trotz added another penalty goal. Fassetta scored the only goal of the chukker for Empire (penalty goal) with Barrossa enjoying a hard-fought 10-9 lead.
The teams continued to battle through the sixth chukker with Wright scoring the first goal of the period for an 11-9 advantage. A final score from Fassetta (on a penalty shot) closed out the period with Barrossa riding off with the 11-10 victory.
Bray led all scoring with seven goals (three on penalty shots). Trotz added three penalty goals and Wright chipped in a goal in the win.
Wolf accounted for five goals for Empire. Wolf added three goals and Hammon scored twice.
Trinity 12, Barrossa 11
In a battle that went down to the wire, Trinity (Rick Paicius, Robin Paicius, Clemente Zavaleta and Agustin Zavaleta) salvaged a 12-11 win over Barrossa (Erik Wright, Jef Graham, Santiago Trotz and Jesse Bray) with a sixth chukker rally.
Clemente Zavaleta opened the scoring for Trinity with a goal from the field. Santiago Trotz countered with a penalty goal for Barrossa, and the chukker ended in a 1-1 tie.
Trinity picked up two more goals from Clemente Zavaleta while holding Barrossa scoreless in the second period. Barrossa fell behind 3-1 after the first two periods of play.
Clemente Zavaleta scored his fourth and fifth (penalty shot) goals of the game in the third, but Barrossa finally got their offense on track. Jesse Bray scored twice from the field while teammate Trotz added a goal from the field and a penalty goal. The score was all even at 5-5 at the end of the first half.
Agustin Zavaleta converted a 60-yard penalty goal in the fourth and added a goal from the field. Barrossa managed a penalty goal from Trotz, but trailed 7-6.
A 40-yard penalty goal from Clemente Zavaleta and a single goal from Agustin Zavaleta gave Trinity nine goals, but Barrossa came up with three goals of their own (two penalty goals from Trotz and a goal from the field from Bray) to tie it up at 9-9 with one chukker left to play.
Agustin Zavaleta scored the go-ahead goal for Trinity. 10-9, in the sixth chukker, but Trotz converted a penalty shot for a goal to level it at 10-10. Consecutive goals from Agustin Zavaleta and Clemente Zavaleta had Trinity ahead, 12-10, with time running out. Trotz scored the final goal of the match, but Barrossa came up on the short end of a 12-11 score.
Trotz scored eight times for Barrossa (six on penalty shots). Bray added three goals in the loss.
Clemente Zavaleta’s seven goals set the pace for Trinity (two on penalty shots). Agustin Zavaleta was credited with five goals (one by penalty).
GYPSY/TRITECH 9, EMPIRE 4
In Sunday’s final Championship Cup match of the day, Gypsy/Tritech (Chris Maloney, Gaston Von Wernich, Graham Bray, Luis Rios and Suzanne Figi) took control of the game from the opening throw-in and galloped off with a 9-4 victory over Empire (Craig Steinke, Mariano Fassetta, Ashton Wolf and Erik Hammon).
Chris Maloney scored the opening goal of the first chukker followed by two goals from the field from Graham Bray as Empire struggled to organize an effective attack in a 3-0 period.
Mariano Fassetta finally got Empire on the scoreboard with a penalty goal in the second, but three unanswered goals from Gypsy/Tritech had Empire trailing, 6-1. Bray and von Wernich scored goals from the field while Maloney converted a penalty shot for a goal. After just two chukkers of play, Empire trailed by five goals.
The Empire defense finally managed to shut down the Gypsy/Tritech offense in the third, but an anemic attack resulted in a single goal from Wolf. At the end of the first half of play, Gypsy/Tritech sat on a 6-2 lead.
In their biggest chukker of the day, Empire managed to add two goals to its total on a penalty goal from Fassetta and a goal from the field from Erik Hammon. Bray scored a single goal for Gypsy/Tritech and Empire continued to trail, 7-4.
Gypsy/Tritech picked up a goal from the field from Bray in the fifth and a penalty goal from Maloney in the sixth to a silent Empire offense, riding on for the 9-4 victory.
Bray led the scoring with five goals. Maloney registered three goals (two on penalty shots) and Von Wernich scored once in the win.
Fassetta scored twice for Empire. Wolf and Hammon added single goals in a losing effort.