By Alex Webbe
The Memorial tournament, sponsored by Piaget signals the final tournament of the spring season for the Grand Champions Polo Club, and attracted six teams for the 10-13-goal competition.
Wet grounds forced the opening round of play to be moved to the Palm City Polo Club where two round-robins were stages.
In the opening round of play, Tuff Rider (Timmy Sharma, Omar Sosa, Horton Schwartz and Joey Casey) snuck past a game Ruby Q foursome (Brian Street, Diego Cossio, Kris Kampsen and Hannah Buchan) 4-3 in the opening three chukkers of the tournament.
Tuff Rider’s Omar Sosa led the way with a pair of goals with Horton Schwartz adding a goal from the field and Timmy Sharma converting a penalty goal for a score.
Ruby Q picked up a pair of goals from Kris Kampsen and a single goal from Brian Street.
Ruby Q held the field with Piaget Black (Melissa Ganzi, Gene Goldstein, Juan Bollini and Juan Badiola) taking the challenge.
Piaget Black opened the first two chukkers with a 5-0 lead as Gene Goldstein scored three times (once on a penalty shot) and twice on goals from the field. Juan Bollini added a pair of goals in the 5-3 win. Ruby Q got all three of their goals in the final chukker with Brian Street and Diego Cossio scoring single goals from the field while Hannah Buchan converted a penalty shot for a goal.
Tuff Rider returned to the field for the final round of the tournament’s first round-robin, falling to a talented Piaget Black team, 6-3.
Juan Bollini set the pace for Piaget Black with three goals. Melissa Ganzi scored twice and Gene Goldstein added a goal in the win.
Tuff Rider kept pace in the opening chukker, 2-2, before falling behind 4-2 in the following chukker and losing by a final score of 6-3.
Tuff Rider got single goals from Timmy Sharma, Joey Casey and Horton Schwartz while the win propelled Piaget Black into Sunday’s finals.
PIAGET WHITE RACES PAST SANTA CLARA AND KIG/ALEGRIA
In the second round-robin of the day, Piaget White (Marc Ganzi, Alessandro Bazzoni, Nacho Badiola and Lucas Lalor) scored consecutive win over Santa Clara (Ron Dagger, Jason Crowder, J. J. Celis and Francisco Escobar) and KIG/Alegria (Bash Kazi, Julian Mannix, Joaquin Panelo and Jeff Hall) to earn a first place finish and an appointment in Sunday’s finals against stable-mate, Piaget Black for the 2012 Memorial Cup.
Santa Clara got on the scoreboard first against a disciplined Piaget White defense with a penalty conversion from J. J. Celis. Piaget White went scoreless in the opening chukker of play and fell behind, 1-0.
Second chukker goals from Marc Ganzi, Nacho Badiola and Lucas Lalor went unanswered as Piaget White established a 3-1 advantage over a struggling Santa Clara foursome.
Jason Crowder scored on a penalty goal for Santa Clara’s final goal of the contest while Piaget White added single goals from Nacho Badiola and Alessandro Bazzoni in the 5-2 victory.
Santa Clara returned to the pitch for a fourth chukker meeting with KIG/Alegria, registering a 6-5 win.
Opening goals from J. J. Celis and Jason Crowder had Santa Clara ahead 2-1 after the first chukker of play. Julian Mannix scored the only goal of the period for KIG/Alegria.
KIG/Alegria tied it up at 3-3 in their second period against Santa Clara. Joaquin Panelo scored from the field while Mannix scored on a penalty shot. Jason Crowder scored on a penalty conversion.
A goal from Joaquin Panelo had KIG/Alegria on top, 4-3, briefly but scores from J. J. Celis, Ron Dagger and Jason Crowder and Santa Clara registering a hard-fought 6-5 victory.
Crowder scored three times in the win. Celis scored twice and Dagger added a single goal in the victory.
Mannix scored three times (twice on penalty shots) and Panelo added a pair of goals in the KIG/Alegria loss.
In the final round of round-robin play, Piaget White flexed its muscles with Marc Ganzi scoring three times (once on a penalty shot). Bazzoni and Nacho Badiola scored twice in the win. KIG/Alegria picked up a pair of goals from Mannix and a single goal from Bash Kazi.
The final results had Piaget White and Piaget Black meeting on Sunday for the final showdown.