Flight Options (Melissa Ganzi, Wes Finlayson, Guille Aguero and Juan Bollini) rolled over Palm Beach Equine (Gene Goldstein, Brandon Phillips, Jeff Blake and Scott Swerdlin) and Palm Beach Polo (Glenn Straub, Alejandro Gonzalez, Kris Kampsen and Roberto Gonzalez) Thursday afternoon in round-robin action in the opening round of play in the 2014 Pedro Morrison Memorial Cup at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington.
Palm Beach Equine received ½ goal by handicap and added the opening goal from the field from Brandon Phillips, 1½-0. Guille Aguero responded with consecutive goals (one on a penalty conversion) to give Flight Options the 2-1½ lead. Phillips closed out the first chukker with a penalty goal that put Palm Beach Equine in the lead, 2½-2.
Flight Options took control in the second period of the three chukker mini-match by scoring three unanswered goals. Aguero scored his third goal of the game on a 40-yard penalty shot followed by Wes Finlayson who did the same, 4-2½. Melissa Ganzi closed out the scoring with her first goal of the game for a 5-2½ Flight Options advantage with one chukker left to play.
Phillips attempted to rally his Palm Beach Equine teammates with a pair of goals in the third that cut the lead to just one-half goal, 5-4 ½, but a final goal from Juan Bollini gave Flight Options a comfortable win, 6-4½.
Palm Beach Polo 8, Palm Beach Equine 5½
After losing their opener, Palm Beach Equine held the field to meet Palm Beach Polo in the second leg of the three-team round-robin.
After receiving a goal by handicap from the 14-goal Palm Beach Polo lineup, Phillips scored the first goal from the field for Palm Beach Equine, 2-0, but then was forced to watch Alejandro Gonzalez reel off four consecutive goals (one on a penalty shot) for an early 4-2 lead.
Consecutive goals from Phillips tied it at 4-4, but Palm Beach Polo roared back in the second. Penalty goals from Alejandro Gonzalez and Kris Kampsen ended the second period with Palm Beach Polo on top of a 6-4 score.
Jeff Blake’s first goal of the game cut the Palm Beach Polo lead to a single goal, 6-5, in third period play. Kampsen added two more goals to end the three chukker game with a Palm Beach Polo 8-5 win.
Flight Options 4½, Palm Beach Polo 2
Both Flight Options and Palm Beach Polo had recorded wins, with the final three chukkers of the round-robin set to determine the first of the tournament finalists.
Flight Options received one-half goal by handicap from Palm Beach Polo, and stretched the lead with an opening goal from Melissa Ganzi, 1½-0. Palm Beach Polo was held scoreless in the opening seven minutes of the match.
Roberto Gonzalez finally got Palm Beach Polo on the scoreboard in the second, but Melissa Ganzi struck for a goal again for Flight Options to maintain their lead, 2 ½-1.
Flight Options continued to pour it on in the third and final chukker of the day. A penalty goal from Aguero and another goal from Melissa Ganzi had Flight Options comfortably ahead, 4½-1. With time running out, Palm Beach Polo team captain, Glenn Straub, shepherded the ball down the field for an unopposed goal with seconds on the clock. The game went to Flight Options in a 4½-2 final, boosting them into Sunday’s final.
Play continues in the 2014 Pedro Morrison Memorial cup on Friday with another three team round-robin.
Two-thirty play on Friday will feature CT Energia (Marc Ganzi, Alessandro Bazzoni, Nic Roldan and Carlitos Gracida), Casablanca (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Jeff Hall and Julio Gracida) and Team USPA (Jared Sheldon, Patrick Uretz, Mason Wroe, Felipe Viana and Jesse Bray). The winner will face Flight Options in the tournament final on Sunday at 3PM.