Audi and Lucchese remain unbeaten in Bombardier Pacific Coast Open
By Alex Webbe

Anyone who was getting ready to count Adolfo Cambiaso out of the running in the 2011 Bombardier Pacific coast Open at the Santa Barbara Polo Club Sunday morning had a rude awakening.

Playing against a talented ERG foursome, Cambiaso’s eleven goals led his Lucchese team to a decisive 16-10 win after charging off to a one-sided 11-1 halftime lead.

In a heavily penalized contest, ERG’s Sebastian Merlos scored the first goal of the game on a 60-yard penalty shot but had to watch with his teammates while Lucchese explode for five consecutive goals.  An intense offensive squeeze forced ERG players into committing fouls in an effort to keep Lucchese from scoring.  Cambiaso converted three 60-yard penalty shots and added a goal from the field.  Teammate Jeff Blake scored on a penalty shot and Lucchese left the field after the first seven minutes of play with a 5-1 lead.

Cambiaso provided all of the offense in the second chukker as the Lucchese offense continued to roll.  Two goals from the field and another goal gave Cambiaso an impressive seven goals after just two chukkers of play.  Lucchese extended its lead to 8-1 with a bewildered ERG team struggling to find answers.

Three more Lucchese goals went unanswered in the third chukker.  Blake converted followed by a Cambiaso field goal.  Blake tapped one in from the field and the first half ended with Lucchese boasting an impressive 11-1 advantage.

Blake opened the second half by converting a penalty shot for a goal followed by a goal from the field from Julio Gracida.  Paco de Narvaez finally broke the scoring drought for ERG with his first goal of the game followed by a goal from teammate Miguel Torres.  Cambiaso closed out the fourth chukker scoring with a 40-yard penalty shot for a goal and Lucchese stretched its lead to eleven goals, 14-3.

De Narvaez scored the first goal of the fifth period followed by a pair of goals from Cambiaso.  De Narvaez, Merlos and Torres responded with single goals, cutting the Lucchese lead to nine goals with one chukker left in the game.

Merlos, de Narvaez and Torres each scored a goal in the final chukker as Lucchese seemed content to save their horses for another time.  The final horn sounded with Lucchese on the winning end of a 16-10 score.

Cambiaso’s eleven goals set the pace for Lucchese.  Blake scored four times and Gracida added a goal in the winning effort.

De Narvaez scored four goals for ERG.  Teammates Merlos and Torres scored three times apiece in the loss.

The victory improves the Lucchese record to 2-0 while ERG falls to 0-2.

GRANTS FARM 10, PIAGET 6

Grants Farm rebounded from an opening round loss to Audi by beating Piaget 10-6 in Pacific coast Open action.

Jason Crowder put Piaget on top, 1-0 with the only goal of the first chukker as both teams looked for holes in the opposing defense.

A 60-yard penalty conversion from Miguel Astrada and a goal from the field from Crowder were countered by a single penalty conversion from Nic Roldan, and Piaget led 3-1 after the first two chukkers.

Grants Farm had a new look as they rode onto the field in the third.  A tighter defense kept Piaget off of the scoreboard while Roldan scored twice.  The teams were tied at 3-3 at the end of the first half.

“They’re a tough team,” offered Jeff Hall, “they’re very physical.  They made us work for the win today.”

Bollini put Piaget ahead, 4-3, with a goal from the field in the fourth, but a pair of goals from Hall ended the period with Grants Farm holding the reins on the Piaget team and taking a 5-4 advantage.

Astrada tied it at 5-5 with a penalty conversion in the fifth chukker before Roldan scored his fourth goal of the game for Grants Farm to regain the lead, 6-5.  Piaget continued to press with Crowder breaking free and scoring the final goal of the period to knot it up again at 6-6.

“When we worked together, we scored,” said Roldan, “but we’ve got a lot more work to do before Thursday.  “I think we’ve got a great team, we just have to be more focused.”

That focus seemed to come into play in the final chukker.  The Grants Farm defense stepped it up and shut down the Piaget attack.  Three goals from Roldan and a penalty goal from Hall went unanswered as Grants Farm rode off with the game, 10-6.

Roldan led all scorers in the game with seven goals.  Hall added three for the winning side.

Crowder scored three times for Piaget.  Astrada added two and Bollini chipped in a single goal in the loss.

AUDI 9, MANSOUR 8

In one of the day’s most competitive games, Audi rallied from an 8-6 second half deficit to hand Mansour its first loss of the tournament, 9-8, while keeping its unbeaten Pacific coast Open record intact.

Audi took the early lead on a pair of penalty goals from 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres and a goal from the field from Carlos Gracida.  Mansour’s Lolo Castagnola answered with two goals from the field as Audi took the early 3-2 lead.

Audi moved out to a 4-3 lead in the second period on another penalty conversion from Pieres.  Mansour tied it up at 4-4 with two 60-yard penalty goals from Sapo Caset, as both teams battled for control of the ball.

Castagnola scored from the field and 10-goaler Caset converted a penalty shot for a 6-4 Mansour lead, but Audi dug in.  Goals from Audi team captain Marc Ganzi and Carlos Gracida ended the first half with the teams deadlocked at 6-6.

Mansour went up 8-6 in the fourth as Audi couldn’t coordinate its offense.  A missed 40-yard penalty shot didn’t help as they fell behind Mansour by two goals.

Audi tightened up its defense in the fifth chukker, shutting out the Mansour offense for the first time all afternoon.  Ten-goaler against 10-goaler as Caset and Pieres battled for field positioning.  Carols Gracida accounted for the only goal of the chukker, as Audi missed two more penalty attempts.  Only one chukker remained with Mansour ahead, 8-7.

The Audi defense intensified in the final seven minutes of play as Mansour attempted to score an insurance goal.  First a tying goal from the field by Carlos Gracida then a go-ahead goal from Pieres complimented the team’s miserly defense.  Audi outscored Mansour 3-0 in the final two periods of the game and captured the victory in a 9-8 thriller.

Play will continue in the 2011 Bombardier Pacific Coast Open on Thursday, August 25 when Mansour (1-1) faces Piaget in a 10AM matchup followed by a showdown between Grants Farm (1-1) and ERG (0-2) at 1PM.  The 3PM contest will feature the only two undefeated teams in Audi (2-0) and Lucchese (2-0).