Ivan Weiss took the reins of the former Antelope team, now Novis Insurance, for the final tournament of the summer and quickly put two wins on the board defeating Klentner Ranch 12-9 and Farmers & Merchants Bank 8-6. Gonzalez led the scoring charge scoring 7 of Novis Insurance’ 8 goals against FMB and an additional 5 against Klentner Ranch.
Jef Graham mounted up with Jim Wright, Felipe Vercellino and Herndon Radcliff to compete in the USPA Intra-Circuit as Barrossa. Graham is a local Santa Barbara amateur player who has proven to be a force on the field playing both a strong back position while able to quickly transition to offense throughout the match. Barossa fell short to Klentner Ranch in the first round of play, but found their stride on Sunday narrowly defeating Farmers & Merchants Bank in overtime. Jason Crowder replaced Pipe Vercellino for the match. Teammate Jim Wright felt the pressure going into the second game of the tournament after falling short to Klentner Ranch on Friday, “;;Sunday’s game went down to the wire. When matches go into overtime, it really is anyone’s game – but we knew we had to stick to the basics and be disciplined throughout the chukker. Jason [Crowder] substituted in for Pipe [Vercellino] so the first few chukkers we had to adjust to his playing style. He plays a very open game, but once we all got in sync, I felt like we made steady progress through the final bell.”
All eyes were on 6-goaler Jesse Bray in Klentner Ranch’s win against team Barossa. Bray proved to be a key part of their victory scoring 9 of the son’s 13 goals. The Klentner Ranch father-son duo Justin and Luke Klentner kickstarted Bray’s scoring streak each scoring one goal; with Wulff scoring the other two for a grand total of 13 goals. Barossa seemed to be unlucky, having almost double as many shots on goal and losing their 6 goal player Felipe Vercellino in the last chukker due to 3 yellow cards. Their bad luck didn’t seem to phase 3 goal player Jim Wright who remained steady throughout the final chukker bringing the score to within 3 from a 7 goal deficit in the final chukker.
Round 1 results:
Klentner Ranch 13-11 Barossa
Novis Insurance 8-6 Farmers & Merchants Bank
Novis 12-9 Klentner Ranch
Barossa 9-8 FMB 9-8
12-Goal USPA Intra-Circuit Cup Rosters:
Barrossa: Jef Graham A, Jim Wright 3, Felipe Vercellino 6, Herndon Radcliff 3.
Klentner Ranch: Luke Klentner A, Jesse Bray 6, Santi Wulff 5, Justin Klentner 1.
Novis: Hilario Figueras 2, Peke Gonzalez 5, Santi Trotz 5, Ivan Weiss A.
Farmers & Merchants Bank: Dan Walker 2, Marcos Bignoli 4, Felipe Viana 6, Leigh Brecheen A.