Wins by ERG and Lucchese set up Pacific Coast Open final ERG (Kerstie Allen, Remy Muller, Agustin Merlos and Sebastian Merlos) and Lucchese (John Muse, Jeff Hall, Sapo Caset and Tommy Collingwood) won their final preliminary games in the Pacific Coast Open at the Santa Barbara Polo Club Thursday afternoon, setting the stage for the Sunday final. ERG scored their third consecutive win over FMB (Dan Walker, Inaki Laprida, Lucas Criado and Henry Walker) in a 13-11 game that challenged their defensive resolve, with FMB knotting the score as late as the fifth chukker. Agustin Merlos opened the scoring for ERG with a goal from the field in the first chukker. Sebastian Merlos made it 2-0 before Lucas Criado responded with a goal for FMB, 2-1. Sebastian Merlos’s second goal of the chukker put ERG on top, 3-1. Criado converted a 30-yard penalty shot to conclude the scoring in the chukker with ERG in the lead, 3-2. Agustin Merlos added a pair of second chukker goals for ERG (one on a 40-yard penalty shot), but FMB was ready. Single goals from Inaki Laprida, Henry Walker and Criado had it all even at 5-5 at the end of the period. The ERG attack came alive in the third. Two goals from Sebastian Merlos and single goals from Remy Muller and Agustin Merlos (penalty shot) gave ERG a comfortable 9-5 advantage at the end of the first half. FMB tried to claw their way back into the game in the fourth. Two goals from Criado and a single goal from Laprida cut the ERG lead down to a manageable two goals, 10-8. Sebastian Merlos scored ERG’s only goal of the chukker. The two teams traded goals in the fifth. Laprida scored consecutive goals (one on a penalty shot) to tie it at 10-10. ERG responded with single goals from Agustin Merlos and Sebastian Merlos to end the period in possession of a 12-10 lead. Henry Walker’s second goal of the game cut the ERG lead to a single goal, 12-11, but time was running out, and ERG was in possession of the ball. A final goal from Sebastian Merlos ended the game and gave ERG their third straight Pacific Coast Open win and an opportunity to defend their 2013 title. LUCCHESE 9, WILDCAT 8 “It was a well-balanced team,” said 7-goaler Jeff Hall following the Lucchese win over Wildcat (Ryan Gilbertson, Jason Crowder, Nacho Badiola and Santiago Chavanne), a victory that put them in the Pacific Coast Open final against ERG. The start of the game was defensive in nature, with neither team being able to control the opponent’s defense. Santiago Chavanne scored the only goal of the first chukker, 1-0; with Sapo Caset accounting rot the only goal of the second period, 1-1. Nacho Badiola gave the lead back to Wildcat with the opening goal of the third chukker, 2-1. Lucchese answered back with a pair of goals from Caset for a narrow 3-2 halftime advantage. Lucchese maintained their narrow one goal lead in the fourth on goals from Jeff Hall and Caset. Wildcat scores were made by Badiola and Jason Crowder (on a 60-yard Penalty 6). The chukker ended with Lucchese on top, 5-4. Fifth chukker goals from Caset and Tommy Collingwood went unanswered. Lucchese ran out to a three goal lead, 7-4, with one chukker left to play in regulation time. A sixth chukker Wildcat rally netted them four goals (two from Crowder and single goals from Chavanne and Ryan Gilbertson). Hall scored his second goal of the game and Caset converted a 60-yard penalty shot for the 9-8 win and a spot in the Pacific Coast Open final against ERG. Sunday’s 2PM meeting between the two teams won’t be the first Pacific Coast Open final for the two of them. Lucchese scored the first of three Pacific Coast Open finals in a 2010 win over ERG, 10-8, the first of three consecutive titles. The two teams met again last year as ERG extracted revenge in a 16-9 spanking of Lucchese. All eyes will be on the Merlos brothers in Sunday’s finals, but the combination of Muse, Hall, Caset and Collingwood have already won the Silver Cup and have a measure of evident to produce on the field in the championship game.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 04:10:04 +0000
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