US Trust team-(L to R)-Grant Ganzi, Marc Ganzi, Jesse Bray and Luis Escobar.
US Trust (Grant Ganzi, Marc Ganzi, Luis Escobar and Jesse Bray) won their namesake trophy, the US Trust Cup, Sunday afternoon in dramatic fashion. Trailing 6-3 at the end of the first half, the US Trust team outscored Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Guille Aguero and Leo Mandelbaum) 7-4 in the ensuing three chukkers with Luis Escobar scoring the winning goal in overtime.
US Trust took the early lead with a 30-yard penalty goal from Grant Ganzi followed by a goal from the field from his father, Marc Ganzi. Postage Stamp Farm was held scoreless and trailed, 2-0.
Jesse Bray scored his first goal of the day at the 5:42 mark of the second period as the US Trust lead grew to 3-0. Postage Stamp Farm finally got their offense working, picking up goals from Guille Aguero and Brandon Phillips. After two chukkers US Trust continued to lead, 3-2.
A determined and refocused Postage Stamp Farm team took the field in the third chukker and immediately controlled the flow of the game. Consecutive goals from Aguero gave Postage Stamp Farm the lead, 4-3. Brandon Phillips made it 5-3 with Aguero’s third goal of the chukker and fourth of the game had them riding off the field on top of a 6-3 score.
Grant Ganzi was fouled on a drive to the goal, with the ball rolling through the goalposts within the first 30 seconds of the fourth, and added another a minute later that cut the Postage Stamp Farm led to a single goal, 6-5. Leo Mandelbaum and Phillips fired back with single goals that put Postage Stamp Farm in front by three goals, 8-5. Luis Escobar scored the final goal of the chukker on a 100-yard penalty shot with two seconds on the clock. Postage Stamp Farm continued to lead, but the margin had been cut to two goals, 8-6.
Aguero stretched the Postage Stamp Farm lead to three goals with a goal from the field midway through the fifth chukker, 0-6, but US Trust stormed back. Grant Ganzi converted a penalty shot from 40-yards out that was followed by a goal from Escobar that had US Trust within a goal of the lead, 9-8.
US Trust tied the game in the opening minute of the sixth chukker. A shot on goal from Grant Ganzi rolled just sort of the goal line where Marc Ganzi tapped it through for the tie, 9-9. A 30-yard penalty conversion from Grant Ganzi gave US Trust their first lead since the second chukker, 10-9. With time running out in regulation play, Mandelbaum tied the game at 10-10, forcing a sudden-death overtime chukker.
It didn’t take long for US Trust to strike as Escobar scored the winning goal just 45 seconds into the overtime period. US Trust had rallied to tie the game in the final chukker of regulation time and then scored the winning goal to capture the 2015 US Trust Cup.
Grant Ganzi led the US Trust offense with four goals. Escobar added three goals, including the game winner; Marc Ganzi was credited with two goals and Bray scored once for the win. Aguero scored a game-high five goals. Phillips accounted for three goals and Mandelbaum added two goals in a losing effort.
Grant Ganzi was named MVP while Escobar’s June was honored as Best Playing Pony.
Sopris Mt. Ranch 9, Dutta Corp. 8
Earlier in the day Sopris Mountain Ranch (Santos Bollini/Riley Ganzi, Wes Finlayson, J.J. Celis and Julio Ezcurra) came out of a back and forth game, defeating Dutta Corp. (Timmy Dutta, Tim Dutta, Carlitos Gracida and Nic Roldan), 9-8.
J.J. Celis and Timmy Dutta exchanged goals in the opening chukker for a 1-1 tie. Additional goals from Wes Finlayson and Celis closed out the period with Sopris Mt. Ranch in control of a 4-1 game (Sopris Mt. Ranch received one goal by handicap).
Dutta Corp. opened the second chukker with three consecutive goals that tied the game at 4-4. Timmy Dutta scored the first goal of the chukker from the field, 4-2, and added a 30-yard penalty shot that cut the Sopris Mt. Ranch lead to a single goal, 4-3. Carlitos Gracida took the following throw-in and raced down the field to tie the game at 4.4. Wes Finlayson scored his first goal of the day with 1:05 on the clock for the final goal of the chukker and a 5-4 Sopris Mt. Ranch lead.
Goals were at a premium in the third period as both defenses tightened up. Tim Dutta, Sr. scored the only goal of the chukker, leveling the score once again, 5-5 at the end of the first half.
The parity of the teams continued to display itself, with Timmy Dutta scoring on a well-executed nearside tail shot for a goal, 6-5. Celis countered with a goal for Sopris Mt. Ranch to end the chukker in a 6-6 deadlock.
Gracida opened the scoring in the fifth chukker for a 7-6 Dutta Corp. advantage. Consecutive goals from Celis and Santos Bollini, however gave the lead back to Sopris Mt. Ranch, 8-7. Timmy Dutta scored is fifth goal of the game to tie the game once again, 8-8.
The see-saw battle continued into the final chukker with each team taking turns running the ball up and down the field. It was Julio Ezcurra’s only goal of the day that gave the hard-fought 9-8 win to Sopris Mt. Ranch.
Celis led the Sopris Mt. Ranch attack with four goals. Finlayson scored twice with Bollini and Ezcurra each adding a goal. The team also received one goal by handicap for the win. Timmy Dutta’s five goals led all scorers. Gracida scored twice and Tim Dutta, Sr. added a goal in the loss.