Piaget and Grand Champions record wins
in USPA National Twenty-Goal competition

By Alex Webbe

Piaget (Melissa Ganzi, Jeff Hall, Juan Bollini and Juan Badiola) defeated Daniel &
Henry (Julio Ezcurra, Stevie Orthwein, Carlucho Arellano and Diego Cossio) 9-5 in
2012 USPA National Twenty-Goal competition while Grand Champions (Wes Finlayson,
Jason Crowder, Tommy Biddle and Joey Casey) rallied to register a 9-8 overtime win
over La Karina (Brian Boyd, Esteban Panelo, Brandon Phillips and Mariano Gonzalez)
in the second game of the high-goal double-header Wednesday afternoon at the Palm
City Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida.

Juan Bollini scored the only goal of the opening chukker as both teams felt out one
another. Piaget took the 1-0 lead into the second chukker.

Jeff Hall added two penalty goals to the Piaget total in the second period. Daniel &
Henry scored on a well-placed angle shot from Argentine 5-goaler Julio Ezcurra.
After two, Piaget held a 3-1 advantage over Daniel & Henry.

Piaget and Daniel & Henry exchanged single goals in the third. Juan Badiola scored
first to put Piaget in the lead, 4-1. Stevie Orthwein countered with a goal for Daniel &
Henry. The first half ended with Daniel & Henry trailing Piaget, 4-2.

Halfway through the fourth chukker Hall intercepted a Daniel & Henry pass at midfield
and carried it 150 yards down the field for a score. Hall added another goal less than a
minute later while the Piaget defense shut out the Daniel & Henry offense for a 6-2 lead.

Hall scored on another penalty shot in the fifth. Teammate Badiola added two more
goals as Piaget extended its lead to six goals, 9-3. Ezcurra accounted for the only
Daniel & Henry goal.

Piaget watched Orthwein score two goals in the sixth chukker without responding. The
final horn sounded, giving Piaget the 9-5 win.

Hall scored five times for Piaget. Badiola added three goals and Bollini recorded a
score for the victory.

Orthwein led the Daniel & Henry attack with three goals. Ezcurra scored twice in the
loss.

GRAND CHAMPIONS 9, LA KARINA 8 OT

Grand Champions (Wes Finlayson, Jason Crowder, Tommy Biddle and Joey Casey)
trailed 5-3 at the end of the first half but rallied to register a 9-8 overtime win over an
aggressive La Karina (Brian Boyd, Esteban Panelo, Brandon Phillips and Mariano
Gonzalez) attack.

La Karina received one goal by handicap from the 18-goal Grand Champions team but
was held scoreless in the opening chukker. Jason Crowder tied it up at 1-1 as both
teams had trouble finding the range of the opponent’s goal.

Scoring continued to elude the teams in the second period. Mariano Gonzalez
converted a 60-yard penalty shot for the only goal of the chukker. La Karina was now
up by a single goal, 2-1.

Both offenses opened up in the third. Brandon Phillips scored two goals in the space
of a minute while teammate Esteban Panelo’s single goal had La Karina on top, 5-3.
Grand Champions got goals from Tommy Biddle and Crowder but trailed by two goals
at the end of the first half, 5-3.

Both defenses buckled down in the second half. Crowder scored the only goal of the
fourth chukker. La Karina continued to lead, 5-4.

Single goals from Panelo (penalty conversion) and Phillips had La Karina ahead, 7-4.
Biddle scored from the field and the fifth chukker ended with La Karina defending a 7-5
advantage.

Joey Casey scored back to back goals in the sixth period to tie it up at 7-7, and Biddle
gave Grand champions the narrow 8-7 lead with his third goal of the day. With time
running out, Panelo broke free and scored the tying goal, 8-8. The horn sounded and
the teams were headed into sudden-death overtime.

Less than a minute into the extra chukker, Casey carried the ball toward the La Karina
goal where he converted to give Grand Champions the 9-8 victory.

Crowder, Biddle and Casey scored three goals apiece for the win. Panelo and Phillips
each recorded three goals. Gonzalez added a goal and the team received one goal by
handicap.

Competition in the National Twenty-Goal is scheduled to continue on Friday at the
Grand Champions Polo Club with KIG (1-0) meeting Piaget (1-0) at 1PM. At 3:30PM,
Audi (1-0) is slated to face La Karina (0-1). Tournament finals are set for Sunday at
3PM.