By Alex Webbe
Piaget battled it out successfully with Audi/Newport and Elangeni Ranch in a round-robin competition to make it into Sunday’s finals of the 2011 USPA Eastern Challenge Cup Thursday afternoon at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
In the first three chukkers of play, Piaget scored a 4-3 win over Elangeni Ranch. Elangeni Ranch received one goal by handicap and added two on penalty shots from Joey Casey and J. J. Celis to take an early 3-1 lead. Team captain Melissa Ganzi scored the only goal for her Piaget team in the opening frame.
Piaget blanketed the Elangeni Ranch offense in the second chukker while putting three goals on the scoreboard. Melissa Ganzi opened with her second goal of the game followed by single goals from Natascha Baecher and Nic Roldan for the 4-3 advantage.
With Elangeni Ranch struggling to score the tying goal, the Piaget defense was up to the task. Although Piaget failed to score, it managed to shutout the Elangeni Ranch attack and capture the first contest, 4-3.
Piaget held the field for the next three chukkers while Audi/Newport rode onto the pitch for the first time. Opening goals from Piaget’s Natascha Baecher and Nic Roldan (penalty conversion) were countered by a single goal from Audi/Newport’s Gene Goldstein. The first chukker ended with Piaget ahead, 2-1.
Goldstein opened the second chukker with a goal, but Piaget countered with goals from Roldan and Baecher. The period ended with Piaget on top of a 4-2 score.
Lucas Lalor scored the only goal of the final chukker for Audi/Newport as Piaget held on for the 4-3 win and a berth in Sunday’s USPA Eastern Challenge Cup finals.
The final leg of the competition pitched Audi/Newport against Elangeni Ranch in a shootout that resulted in a 3-3 tie.
Joey Casey scored the first goal of the game for Elangeni Ranch, but Gene Goldstein responded with a tying goal from the field for Audi/Newport to end the chukker.
Marc Ganzi scored his first goal of the match to open the second period before J. J. Celis managed to score a tying goal for Elangeni Ranch.
Celis put Elangeni Ranch ahead 3-2 in the third, but the lead was short-lived. Lucas Lalor tied it up with over two minutes left and a rally in mind. Both teams struggled to put the ball between the goal posts in the final minutes of play with the final horn sounding on a 3-3 tie game.
Piaget will go on to play in the finals against the winner of Friday’s match between Tres Vinos and Pony Express/Santa Clara.