By Alex Webbe
Gray skies, gusty winds and temperatures that peaked in
the mid 50’s did little to dampen the excitement and enthusiasm that
accompanied nearly 2,000 spectators to the shores of Lake Michigan as nine
teams of some of polo’s most talented players took part in the 2011 Grey Goose Chicago
Beach Polo World Cup and the Grey Goose North Beach Women’s Polo Cup.
Following Friday night’s festive opening party at the
Crimson Room of the Hotel Sax, the Lufthansa team took to the beach to face a
Trump Residence trio. Nigerian Neku
Atawodi scored the first goal of the game for Trump Residence as they rode a
narrow 1-0 lead into the second chukker of play.
Second period action saw Lufthansa garner goals from
Megan West and Whitney Vogt while shutting down the Trump offense for a 2-1
halftime lead.
Defenses tightened on both sides of the ball in the
third, with no goals being scored and Lufthansa taking a narrow 2-1, one goal
lead into the final chukker.
Vogt
stepped up the pace in the final minutes of the match adding her second and
third goals of the match while Trump had to settle for a single penalty goal
from Emily Guiza. Lufthansa won the
game, 4-2, and earned itself a trip to Sunday’s finals.
Vogt led all scoring with three goals.
Teammate West added a goal in the win.
Atawodi and Guiza scored single goals for Trump in the
loss.
GASCON
3, GREY GOOSE 1
Defense was the byword of the second match of the day as
the women’s play continued with a Gascon team (Melissa Hornung, Tara Lordi,
Angela York) that was comprised of the same lineup that captured the South
Beach Women’s Polo Cup earlier in the year meeting the upstart Grey Goose
line-up of Aimee Waters, Paula Chermont and Samantha Falbe.
The teams battled to a scoreless first two chukkers
before Gascon finally got on the scoreboard.
Angela York scored the first goal of the match on a penalty shot
followed by a goal from the field from Tara Lordi. Grey goose was still unable to break through
the Gascon defense and the third chukker ended with Gascon holding a 2-0
advantage.
Aimee Waters converted a penalty goal for Grey Goose in
the fourth, cutting the lead to a single goal, 2-1, but Melissa Hornung’s goal
sealed the deal for Gascon, giving them the final 3-1 lead for the win.
York, Lordi and Hornung each scored single goals in the
victory while Waters accounted for the only Grey Goose goal of the game. Gascon would move on to meet Lufthansa in
Sunday’s finals.
TITAN
COMMERCIAL CRUISES THROUGH ROUND-ROBIN
Argentine brothers Tavi and Guillermo Usandizaga led the
Titan Commercial team through the round-robin in the 2011 Grey Goose Chicago
Beach Polo World Cup with consecutive wins over Amstel Light/Comcast and Gascon
to secure a spot in Sunday’s finals.
Titan made short work of Amstel Light/Comcast in the
opening two chukkers, taking an early 4-1 lead before outscoring them 6-1. Tavi Usandizaga scored four times in the contest
while brother Guille added two goals in the win.
Titan’s second opponent wouldn’t prove to be as easy as
the local contingent assembled on the Gascon team (Bob McMurtry, Tod Rackley
and Chad Kraml) held them scoreless for the first period of play. Three consecutive goals from Guille
Usandizaga proved the difference as Gascon was unable to put any points on the
scoreboard in the 3-0 loss. The victory
boosted Titan commercial into the finals with Amstel Light/Comcast and Gascon
facing one another in the final two chukkers.
This time the Gascon offense showed up, accounting for
five goals while limiting the Amstel Light/Comcast team to three goals from
Claudio Gauna.
McMurtry and Rackley led the Gascon team with two goals
apiece. Kraml added a single goal in the
win.
LUFTHANSA
6, GREY GOOSE 1
Scott Devon’s Lufthansa team exploded in the first
chukker of play in the day’s final match, outscoring a dazed Grey Goose team
4-0 in the opening chukker of the head-on-head competition for the remaining
finals berth.
Former Canadian polo team captain Brandon Phillips
accounted for three of the opening period’s goals scoring the opening goal of the
game and adding a rare two-pointer for an early 3-0 advantage. Devon closed out the scoring in the opening
chukker as Lufthansa left the field with a comfortable 4-0 advantage.
Ruben Coscia got settled into his game in the second
chukker, missing a number of long shots at goal and managing to convert a
penalty shot for a goal for Grey Goose.
Lufthansa responded with a goal from Sarah Knapp, and the first half
ended with Lufthansa sitting on top of a 5-1 lead.
Scoring was hard to come by in the second half of the
game, with a penalty goal from Phillips accounting for the only points of the
second half as Lufthansa rode off with the 6-1 win, setting up Sunday’s
showdown with titan commercial and the Usandizaga brothers.