During the qualifying games of the Fish Creek Constitution Cup, Grant Palmer’s Antelope Jr. foursome (Grant Palmer 0, Felipe Vercellino 6, Jose Ignacio Martinez 3T, Peter Blake 3) started out very strong with four wins but then lost their next two games. The losses notwithstanding, the young Palmer group finished at the top and won a semi-final game to earn a spot in the final.
The opposition in the decider would come from Bensoleimani.com (Ben Soleimani 0, Santiago Von Wernich 5, Tommy Alberdi 4, Joseph Stuart 3), who started the competition slowly and improved as the tournament continued and arrived as a worthy foe. In fact, they defeated the young pronghorns in qualifying play.
On a superb afternoon - presented by Ketel One Botanicals - the early play, while fast, featured little scoring. The first goal came from Soleimani on a run from center on a perfect setup. Vercellino replied for Antelope Jr. to tie the count but Alberdi crushed a 60 yard award and the first ended with Soleimani.com leading at 2 – 1.
Von Wernich scored the only goal in a rather choppy second period to now lead by a pair at 3 – 1.
If the play didn’t open up in the third period, the scoring certainly did as the designers extended their lead. Soleimani counted his second on another nice run and Alberdi grabbed one from the field and another perfectly executed penalty four. The reply from the Palmer group saw Martinez and Vercellino convert open goal opportunities and Soleimani.com led by three at 6 - 3.
The fourth allowed the junior pronghorns to come within one as Vercellino scored twice - a penalty four and a number two. However, Stuart converted a 30 yard free-throw to lead again by two at 7 – 5.
Antelope Jr. opened up the fifth and took the lead for the first time. Martinez scored twice from the field and Vercellino scored his fourth penalty counter and added a field goal to lead by two. Alberti narrowed the gap to one with his second field goal and Antelope Jr. led 9 – 8 going to the final chukker.
In a tension filled closing stanza, the designers were not able to get even as Vercellino converted another open goal offering to now give the junior squad a two goal advantage. Alberti then scored on a penalty two from the spot to narrow the gap to just one at 10 – 9. Notwithstanding, continued pressure from the young pronghorns lead to Vercellino’s second penalty four conversion of the afternoon which ensured the win and Antelope Jr – this time defeating Bensoleimani.com - had won the 2019 USPA Fish Creek Constitution Cup by a final count of 11 – 9.
Martinez, with his strong supporting play in the middle, was selected as the MVP and Vienna, owned by Soleimani and played by Von Wernich in the second, was awarded the Best Playing Pony blanket.
Tony Gregg
