(L to R)- Barbarossa Leather team captain Leo Mandelbaum and 8-goaler Julio Arellano of Postage Stamp Farm battle for position in the opening round of play in the USPA North American Cup at the Grand Champions Polo Club. (Photo by Alex Pacheco)
Postage Stamp Farm (Annabelle Gundlach, Brandon Phillips, Julio Arellano and Brad Blake) raced out an early lead that had them on top, 8-3 after the first three chukkers of play, and holding on to record the 11-9 win over Barbarossa Leather (Leo Mandelbaum, Julio Ezcurra, Tommy Biddle and Martin Estrada) Wednesday morning in the opening game of the 20-goal USPA North American Cup.
Brad Blake scored the first two goals of the game in the opening minutes of play for the 2-0 Postage Stamp Farm start. Leo Mandelbaum scored on the end of a 150-yard run for Barbarossa Leather, 2-1. Annabelle Gundlach’s first goal of the game stretched the lead to two goals, 3-1, with two minutes left in the chukker, and a 30-yard penalty conversion from Brandon Phillips ended the period with Postage Stamp Farm in front, 4-1.
Three more second chukker goals from Postage Stamp Farm (two more from Blake and a goal from Phillips) were countered by a single goal From Martin Estrada. After two chukkers the Postage Stamp Farm lead had grown to five goals, 7-2.
Barbarossa Leather ramped up its defensive efforts in the third while picking up a goal from Tommy Biddle. Julio Arellano responded with a 40-yard penalty conversion for the only other score in the chukker. At the end of the first half Postage Stamp Farm was in control of an 8-3 game.
Arellano and Biddle exchanged goals in a wide open period that saw limited scoring. With two chukkers left in regulation play the Postage Stamp Farm lead held at five goals, 9-4.
A Barbarossa Leather rally in the fifth resulted in four goals with Estrada scoring twice and Biddle and Julio Ezcurra adding single goals. A coordinated defensive effort kept Postage Stamp Farm from scoring for the first time all day as Barbarossa Leather cut the lead down to a single goal, 9-8.
Postage Stamp Farm got back on track both offensively and defensively in the sixth period. A goal from the field from Arellano and a penalty goal from Phillips had Postage Stamp Farm on top by three goals midway through the final chukker with Barbarossa Lather fighting to get back into the game. A goal from the field from Ezcurra perked up the spirits of the Barbarossa Leather team at the 3:09 mark, but extraordinary defensive efforts by the Postage Stamp Farm team ended the threat as they rode on to the 11-9 win.
Blake led all scoring with four goals on the day. Arellano and Phillips scored three goals apiece and Gundlach added a goal for the victory. Estrada and Biddle each scored three times for Barbarossa Leather. Ezcurra added two goals and Mandelbaum scored once in the loss.
FlexJet 12, Casablanca 10
The defending championship Casablanca polo team (Grant Ganzi, Carlitos Gracida, Jeff Hall and Guille Aguero) won’t be defending their 2014 USPA North American Cup title this year after receiving a 12-10 beating from FlexJet (Melissa Ganzi, Jason Crowder, Nic Roldan and Juan Bollini) in a Friday afternoon game.
Casablanca received one goal by handicap and opened strong with Grant Ganzi converting a 40-yard penalty shot in the first minute of the game and added a goal from the field just a minute later for a 3-0 lead. Fouls were costly for Casablanca, however, as Nic Roldan scored on consecutive penalty shots from the 30 and 60-yard lines that cut the lead back to a single goal, 3-2.
Roldan continued to dominate the field into the second chukker as he carried the ball 150 yards down the field to score his third goal of the game and level the score at 3-3 in the first 30 seconds of the period. Another penalty conversion from Roldan had FlexJet with their first lead of the day, 4-3. Jason Crowder added another FlexJet goal to the total at the 4:08 mark for a two goal, 5-3 lead. Jeff Hall got Casablanca right back into the game with a pair of goals that ended the period in a 5-5 deadlock.
Roldan scored his fifth goal of the game for a 6-5 FlexJet lead as third period action got underway. Grant Ganzi scored on a 40-yard penalty shot that was countered by a 30-yard penalty conversion from Crowder. FlexJet remained in front, 7-6. Roldan made it 8-6 with his second goal of the period, but a Penalty 1 called against FlexJet awarded Casablanca a goal and cut the FlexJet lead back to a single goal, 8-7 to end the first half.
Guille Aguero tied the game at 8-8 in the first minute of the second half. Roldan scored the only other goal of the chukker, leaving FlexJet on top, 9-8.
The pace of the game continued to escalate with Grant Ganzi tying the game once again in the first minute of the fifth chukker, 9-9. Roldan fired back with a goal from the field at the 4:16 mark, 10-9, and tapped in a shot on goal from Melissa Ganzi with 1:28 left in the period for an 11-9 lead.
Melissa Ganzi’s first goal of the game pushed the FlexJet led out to three goals, 12-9 with five minutes left in regulation play. Casablanca continued to pressure the FlexJet defense with Grant Ganzi scoring with 2:36 on the game clock, 12-10. The Casablanca offense made run after run against the FlexJet goal but were turned aside as FlexJet held on for the 12-10 win.
Roldan turned in an impressive performance, scoring nine goals on the day (three on penalty conversions). Crowder added two goals and Melissa Ganzi scored once in the win. Grant Ganzi scored a team high five goals for Casablanca. Hall was credited with two goals and Aguero scored once.
USPA North American Cup action is scheduled to continue on Friday, November 11th with semifinal play featuring Postage Stamp Farm and Travieso (Tony Calle, Jesse Bray, Facundo Obregon and J.J. Celis) in a 10am match followed by a 3pm contest between FlexJet and Audi (Marc Ganzi, Jeff Blake, Sugar Erskine and Carlucho Arellano). The winners going on to face one another in the USPA North American Cup final on Sunday, November 15th at 1pm at the Grand Champions Polo Club.
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.