Lucchese and Piaget will meet for the championship of the Bombardier Pacific Coast Open on Sunday.
Lucchese, the defending champion, got a stellar performance from 10-goal superstar Adolfo Cambiaso and Julio Gracida made a huge play in the final seconds left in a 16-15 semifinal polo win over ERG on Thursday at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club.
In the second semifinal, the combination play of Miguel Astrada and Jason Crowder led Piaget to a 15-10 victory over Team Audi.
Working give-and-goes with Astrada, Crowder score eight goals and earned a shot at playing against his former team in Sunday’s final of the biggest tournament of the high-goal season.
Gonzalito Pieres kept Audi in the game in the first half with five penalty conversions.
In Lucchese’s win, Cambiaso and ERG’s Sebastian Merlos, also a 10-goal player, showed off their tremendous skills and scoring ability in the fast-paced game.
Patron John Muse set up Cambiaso for his runs with textbook blocking.
ERG made a last-second comeback and had chance at a final possession to try to score the tying goal. Gracida, however, won a key throw-in for Lucchese in the last 45 seconds and carried the ball to goal. His shot went wide, but he killed the clock and put his team in the final.
