Sun Cup finals set: Pony Express and Longfield

By Alex Webbe

Pony Express scored Friday afternoon wins over KIG (7-3) and ELG (5-3) in round-robin competition at the Grand Champions Polo Club to earn a berth in the finals of the 2013 USPA Sun Cup on Sunday.

Pony Express (Bob Daniels, Tomas Goti, Pancho Eddy and Gene Goldstein) met KIG (MZ Kazi, Kris Kampsen, Marc Ganzi and Juan Bollini) in the first three chukkers of the three-team competition. Kris Kampsen scored the first goal of the game on a penalty conversion, but Pancho Eddy and Tomas Goti responded with single goals to take a 2-1 lead.

The two teams exchanged goals in the second chukker with Marc Ganzi converting a penalty shot for a goal and Kampsen adding a goal from the field. Pony Express got single goals from Gene Goldstein and Pancho Eddy to maintain their one goal lead, 4-3.

Third period play saw Pony Express score three unanswered goals to cruise to a 7-3 win. Eddy scored twice and Goti added a single goal for the win. The three chukker mini-match went to Pony Express, 7-3.

KIG held the field and faced ELG (Lucas Lalor, Juancito Bollini, Carlucho Arellano and Avery Chapman) in the next three chukkers.

Carlucho Arellano scored the first two goals of the game for an early 2-0 lead while an aggressive ELG defense kept KIG off of the scoreboard in the opening chukker.

Second period play saw Kris Kampsen open the chukker with a goal from the field, but ELG was just warming up. Arellano added two more goals from the field with Juancito Bollini scoring his first goal of the game for a 5-1 lead.

Juancito Bollini’s second goal of the day had ELG on top, 6-1 when KIG started to warm up. Ganzi converted another penalty shot for a goal and KIG got single goals from Juan Bollini (father of Juancito) and Kampsen. ELG celebrated the 6-4 win and prepared to face Pony Express for a place in /Sunday’s USPA Sun Cup finals.

Avery Chapman scored the first goal of the final three chukkers but Eddy responded with the tying goal, 1-1. Juancito Bollini put ELG back on top, 2-1, but a closing goal from Goti ended the chukker in a 2-2 deadlock.

Pony Express scored three consecutive goals in the second period-two from Eddy and one from Goti before ELG responded. A single penalty goal from Arellano ended the chukker with Pony Express on the winning end of a 5-3 score.

With the final chukker ready to begin, the clouds opened up and players, horses and spectators went scurrying for cover as the rain poured down on this eclectic collection. After just a few minutes, the rain subsided and Pony Express and ELG took the field for the final three chukkers of play. Races up and down the field were fruitless with both sides unable to score. Pony Express continued to hold the two goal, 5-3 edge advantage up until the final hours for the two goal win.

The victory boosts Pony Express into the Sunday USPA Sun Cup finals.

LONGFIELD 5, PALM HOUSE 3

Earlier in the day Longfield (Hanna Buchan, Grant Ganzi, Nic Roldan and Brandon Phillips) scored a 5-3 win over Palm House (Glen Straub, Carlitos Gracida, Martin Estrada and Tommy Biddle) in one of the most anemic displays of offense in Sun Cup competition. The win earned them an appointment with Pony Express in the Sun Cup finals.

Carlitos Gracida scored the first goal of the game for a 1-0 Palm House lead, to which Brandon Phillips answered back with a goal, 1-1. Gavin Guinan (substituting in the first two chukkers for Grant Ganzi) put Longfield on top, 2-1 after the opening chukker.

A scoreless second period left Longfield ahead by a goal, with neither team showing signs of offensive life.

The two teams traded goals in the third, with Tommy Biddle converting a penalty shot for a goal for Palm House while Grant Ganzi answered back with a goal for Longfield. At the end of the first half of play, Longfield held a paper-thin 3-2 edge.

A scoreless fourth chukker was punctuated by missed opportunities and just plain out misses in shots at goal by both teams. Longfield held on to the one gal lead, 3-2, with two chukkers left to play.

Martin Estrada tied it up for Palm House on a goal from the field in the fifth period, but a second goal from Grant Ganzi ended the fifth period with Longfield back in charge, 4-3.

Nic Roldan scored the only goal of the sixth chukker for the 5-3 win, sending them to Sunday’s finals against Pony Express.