By Alex Webbe
Nic Roldan scored the first goal of the game and set up teammate Brandon Phillips with a pass that scored the winning goal as Flat Out defeated Barbarossa Leather as time expired in the 2011 USPA North America Cup Sunday afternoon at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
In a neck-and-neck game that was short on offense and long on defense, Roldan’s opening goal was followed up by a goal from Barbarossa Leather’s Hector Galindo and the first chukker ended in a 1-1 deadlock.
Brandon Phillips converted a penalty shot for a goal in the second chukker, accounting for the only scoring in a hotly contested match that saw Flat Out leaving the field at the end of the second period with a narrow 2-1 advantage.
Phillips added a goal from the field in the third, but Ruben Gracida responded by converting a penalty shot for a goal. Neither team dominated play, and at the end
of the first half Flat Out guarded a narrow one goal, 3-2 lead.
Team captain Paul Knapp opened the scoring for Flat Out in the second half for a 4-2 lead, but Barbarossa Leather kept pace with a goal from J. J. Celis. The fourth chukker ended with Flat Out maintaining the one goal advantage over a relentless
Barbarossa Leather foursome.
Phillips scored the opening goal of the fifth chukker followed by a beautifully executed angle shot through the goal posts from Galindo. Roldan converted a penalty shot for a goal, and Flat Out was in front, 6-4. Penalties cost Flat Out a pair of goals in the waning minutes of the chukker with Leo Mandelbaum converting twice for his Barbarossa Leather team, and the score was all even at 6-6 as the period ended.
The pace continued to escalate with Roldan and Phillips pressing the Flat Out attack. Roldan scored the go-ahead goal, but Galindo kept Barbarossa Leather in the race with his third goal of the game. With the score tied up at 7-7 and time running out, Roldan took control of the throw-in and drove the ball down field to a waiting Phillips. With an opposing player on his hip, Phillips drove the ball through the goal posts with a nearside shot as time expired.
A jubilant Flat Out team celebrated the hard-fought 8-7 win and the 2011 USPA North America Cup title.
Phillips set the pace for Flat Out with five goals and was named MVP for his efforts. Roldan scored three while Flat Out team captain Knapp added a single goal in the win.
Galindo scored three goals for Barbarossa Leather and had his chestnut mare, Faith, honored as Best Playing Pony. Mandelbaum added two goals and Gracida and
Celis each scored a goal in a losing effort.
ELANGENI RANCH SCORES ROUND-ROBIN WIN
In earlier play, Elangeni Ranch scored a win in round-robin competition that included Audi and Piaget in the consolation bracket of the USPA North America Cup action.
Audi and Piaget played the first three chukkers of the three team round-robin with Audi scoring a narrow 5-4 victory on the strength of two penalty goals from team captain Marc Ganzi; a pair of goals from the field from Gene Goldstein and a single goal from 7-goaler Sugar Erskine.
Piaget responded with two goals from Jason Crowder (one from the field, one on a penalty shot); and single goals from Melissa Ganzi and Joey Casey.
Piaget battled Elangeni Ranch to a 2-2 draw in the second three chukkers. Piaget team captain Melissa Ganzi scored both goals for her team while Elangeni Ranch got single goals from Diego Cossio and Luis Escobar.
The final round of play had Elangeni Ranch taking a 5-3 matchup with Audi. Escobar scored three times. Teammates Martin Estrada and Diego Cossio added single goals for the win. Jota Chavanne scored all three goals for Audi.