By Alex Webbe
Both Lufthansa and Titan commercial scored one-sided wins in the early round of
competition in the 2011 Grey Goose Chicago Beach Polo World Cup play, and
anticipation was high for a tightly contest finals, but such was not the case
in the 11-3 titan win.
“They (Tavi and Guille Usandizaga) just kept coming at us,” said Lufthansa team captain Scott Devon. “Every time you turned around one or both of them were right there,” said the 4-goaler from Michigan.
Titan commercial got off to a fast start, picking up goals from Guille Usandizaga and
Ben Rosenfield while holding a talented Lufthansa team scoreless. At the end of the first chukker, Titan commercial led 2-0.
A penalty conversion from Guille Usandizaga put titan commercial up 3-0 before Lufthansa finally got on the scoreboard. Two consecutive penalty goals from former Canadian team captain Brandon Phillips cut the Titan lead to a single goal, 3-2, at the end of the first half, and an enthusiastic crowd looked to be in for an exciting finals.
An energized Titan commercial team returned to the sand arena in the third chukker. The Titan attack caught the Lufthansa team still in the hanger as it rolled up six unanswered goals on its way to a commanding 9-2 lead with four goals from Guille Usandizaga and single goals from Tavi Usandizaga and Chad Middendorf (splitting the Number 1 position with Rosenfield).
Devon finally got Lufthansa back on the scoreboard with his first goal of the
afternoon in the fourth, but it was a case of too little too late. The Usandizaga brothers continued to soar through the arena like a pair of Kamikaze pilots, with each scoring a final goal in the fourth chukker for the resounding 11-3 win.
Guille Usandizaga led all scoring with seven goals on the day while brother Tavi
scored twice. Middendorf and Rosenfield added single goals.
Phillips scored twice for Lufthansa and Devon added a goal in a losing effort.
Guille Usandizaga captured MVP honors for his performance while Cliff Yandell’s Trifecta (ridden by Brandon Phillips) took Best Playing Pony honors in the
2011 Grey Goose Chicago Beach Polo World Cup.
GREY GOOSE TAKES CONSOLATION ROUND
A Ruben Coscia-driven Grey Goose team captured the consolation round of the 2011 Grey Goose Chicago Beach Polo World Cup scoring wins over Gascon and Amstel
Light/Comcast in round-robin play.
Gascon opened the competition, scoring a 3-2 win over Amstel Light/Comcast as Chad Kraml scored all three goals in the win. Nadir Khan and Claudio Gauna scored single goals for the Amstel Light/Comcast trio.
The second round of play had Grey goose scoring a narrow 1-0 win over Gascon in two chukkers of play dominated by defensive blocks and hard-riding that featured a
single goal from Coscia for the win.
The final round of the round-robin had Grey goose running over a stubborn Amstel
Light/Comcast team 5-2, with Amstel Light/Comcast getting a single two-goal
score from Gauna. The enthusiastic crowd was treated to a fabulous opening to the final two chukkers of play as Grey Goose opened the match with Coscia scoring a two-point shot that traveled the entire length of the arena for the early 2-0 lead. Marcelo Cabeza scored to make it 3-0 before Gauna scored a two-pointer for Amstel Light/Comcast to cut the Grey Goose lead to a 3-2, single goal lead.
Two more goals from Coscia went unanswered in the final chukker as Grey Goose took the game, 5-2.
Coscia led the scoring with four goals. Teammate Cabeza added a goal in the win.
Gauna, the Culver Military Academy polo coach, accounted for both points for Amstel Light/Comcast in the loss.